Rolando P. Ruiz, etc. v. Tenet Hialeah Healthsystem, Inc.
Rolando P. Ruiz, etc. v. Tenet Hialeah Healthsystem, Inc.
Dissenting Opinion
Because the Third District's decision in Ruiz v. Tenet Hialeah Healthsystem, Inc. ,
For example, Ruiz does not conflict with Cox v. St. Josephs Hospital ,
Moreover, there is no conflict with Saunders v. Dickens ,
There is also no conflict with Owens v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc. ,
Additionally, there is no conflict with Gooding v. University Hospital Building, Inc. ,
The plaintiff must show that the injury more likely than not resulted from the defendant's negligence in order to establish a jury question on proximate cause. In other words, the plaintiff must show that what was done or failed to be done probably would have affected the outcome.
Accordingly, because the cases alleged by the Petitioner do not conflict with Ruiz , this Court lacks jurisdiction to review this case. I respectfully dissent.
CANADY, C.J., and LAWSON, J., concur.
Opinion of the Court
Petitioner Rolando P. Ruiz seeks review of a decision of the Third District Court of Appeal which affirmed the entry of a directed verdict in favor of Respondent Arturo Lorenzo, M.D. Ruiz v. Tenet Hialeah Healthsys. ,
Facts
In 2009, Ruiz's late wife, Maria Elena Espinosa, noticed a large mass had developed on the back of her head. Espinosa sought the advice of her primary care physician, who diagnosed the mass as a tumor and referred Espinosa to a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon did not order a biopsy of the tumor, but believed it to be an osteosarcoma. Imaging studies of the tumor showed it had invaded Espinosa's skull and could soon begin to press upon her brain. The neurosurgeon recommended immediate surgery to remove some of the tumor's mass-a process known as "debulking" the tumor-and render it more susceptible to other forms of treatment, such as radiation or chemotherapy.
Espinosa agreed to the surgery, which the neurosurgeon would personally perform with assistance from a colleague. The neurosurgeon asked Espinosa's primary care physician to order a battery of laboratory tests to ensure Espinosa was medically fit to undergo surgery. These tests included an electrocardiogram (EKG) and a urinalysis. The results of these tests were included in Espinosa's chart. The EKG readout in Espinosa's chart was a copy of a copy, and the image quality was correspondingly poor. It did, however, include an automated interpretation by the EKG machine itself which flagged the test result as abnormal, indicating Espinosa's heart may have been enlarged and that she may also have suffered two myocardial infarctions. Espinosa's urinalysis results occupied two pages of her chart. On the second page, the urinalysis indicated the abnormal presence of protein in Espinosa's urine, a *980condition known as proteinuria. Despite these abnormal test results, Espinosa's primary care physician cleared her for surgery, which was scheduled to be performed at 8:00 a.m. on May 13, 2009, at Hialeah Hospital.
That morning, Espinosa and Ruiz arrived at Hialeah Hospital around 6:00 a.m. Espinosa was taken to a separate room to be prepared for surgery while Ruiz remained in the waiting area. Dr. Lorenzo, an anesthesiologist, was also present at Hialeah Hospital that morning to assist with a different patient's procedure and was not assigned to Espinosa. Around 8:00 a.m., however, he learned Espinosa's assigned anesthesiologist, Dr. Guillermo Velasquez, was running late and that Espinosa's pre-anesthesia evaluation had not yet been performed. To maintain the pre-operation schedule and put Espinosa at her ease, Dr. Lorenzo decided to perform Espinosa's pre-anesthesia evaluation himself.
Dr. Lorenzo introduced himself to Espinosa and told her, "I am not going to be your anesthesiologist." He then asked Espinosa a series of questions about her medical history and present condition, recording the information she gave him on a "pre-anesthesia form/moderate sedation evaluation form" in Espinosa's chart. Dr. Lorenzo also reviewed some-but not all-of the test results in Espinosa's chart. He reviewed the EKG and, although the readout was blurry, Dr. Lorenzo later testified he was able to interpret the EKG with sufficient clarity to conclude Espinosa's heart was functioning normally. Dr. Lorenzo believed the abnormal result was caused by a malfunction of the EKG machine and not by any problem with Espinosa's heart. He also reviewed the first page of Espinosa's urinalysis results, but did not look at the second page of those results, where the abnormal proteinuria reading was displayed. During trial, Dr. Lorenzo admitted the proteinuria reading was something he "would want to know," but also stated it would not have affected his determination of whether it was safe for Espinosa to undergo anesthesia.
After Dr. Lorenzo had completed approximately half of the pre-anesthesia form, Dr. Velasquez arrived and took over from Dr. Lorenzo. Dr. Lorenzo then signed the pre-anesthesia form, introduced Dr. Velasquez to Espinosa, and told Dr. Velasquez, "There is nothing, no major medical problems whatsoever. You may want to look at the EKG." Dr. Lorenzo then left the room. Overall, he estimated he saw Espinosa for between three and five minutes, but stated he "wasn't looking at the clock." Dr. Lorenzo did not inform Espinosa's surgeons about the abnormal EKG, which he had reviewed, or about the urinalysis results reflecting abnormal proteinuria, which he had not. Dr. Velasquez later testified that after taking over from Dr. Lorenzo he began the pre-anesthesia evaluation over again from the beginning. Dr. Velasquez reviewed the EKG and the urinalysis results, including the proteinuria reading, but also did not inform Espinosa's surgeons of these abnormal test results. He also signed the pre-anesthesia form, and cleared Espinosa for surgery.
During the surgery, Espinosa lost a large amount of blood and suffered a precipitous drop in blood pressure, which her physicians were unable to reverse. A little over an hour into the surgery, she went into cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated. An autopsy was performed, and a pathology test of the tumor tissue revealed that, rather than being an osteosarcoma, Espinosa's tumor was caused by a type of plasma cell cancer known as multiple myeloma.
Ruiz filed a medical malpractice action against each physician involved in Espinosa's treatment, including Dr. Lorenzo. In part, Ruiz alleged Espinosa's death was *981caused by the failure to correctly diagnose her condition as multiple myeloma. Ruiz argued multiple myeloma should only be treated through radiation or chemotherapy, and that surgery was not appropriate in Espinosa's case. Had Espinosa been correctly diagnosed at any point, Ruiz claimed, the surgery would have been canceled, and Espinosa would have survived. With regard to Dr. Lorenzo, Ruiz alleged he breached the standard of care by (1) not reviewing all the available data in Espinosa's chart, (2) not ordering a second EKG to reconcile the abnormal results of the first EKG, and (3) not reporting the abnormal lab results-some of which he did not review-to Espinosa's surgeons. Ruiz contended that, had Dr. Lorenzo adhered to the standard of care, either Dr. Lorenzo or the surgeons would have realized Espinosa was suffering from multiple myeloma and the surgery would have been canceled.
The trial court granted a directed verdict in favor of Dr. Lorenzo, holding that, even assuming Dr. Lorenzo was negligent in his care of Espinosa, he did nothing more than place her in a position to be injured by the independent actions of third parties-namely, the surgeons.
Analysis
A directed verdict can only be affirmed "where no proper view of the evidence could sustain a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party." Friedrich v. Fetterman & Assocs., P.A. ,
In determining whether a defendant's conduct proximately caused a plaintiff's injury, courts analyze "whether said injury, given actual causation, was a foreseeable *982consequence of the danger created by the defendant's negligent act or omission." Stahl v. Metro. Dade Cty. ,
As evidenced by the above, the law does not require an act to be the exclusive or even the primary cause of an injury in order for that act to be considered the proximate cause of the injury: rather, it need only be a substantial cause of the injury. For example, in Sardell v. Malanio ,
This Court quashed that decision, explaining that "[t]o preclude liability of the initial negligent actor, the alleged intervening cause must be efficient in the sense that it is independent of and not set in motion by the initial wrong."
The case now before us presents an analogous circumstance: Ruiz argues that Dr. Lorenzo's alleged failure to act with due care allowed Espinosa's surgery to occur. Had Dr. Lorenzo read and reported the abnormal results of Espinosa's pre-operative lab tests, Ruiz alleges, Espinosa's surgery would not have occurred and she would not have died during that surgery. Cf. Gooding ,
Our medical malpractice jurisprudence makes clear that a physician may be the proximate cause of a patient's injury even if that physician is not the primary cause of that injury. In Saunders , we held that a treating physician "cannot insulate himself or herself from liability for negligence by presenting a subsequent treating physician who testifies that adequate care by the defendant physician would not have altered the subsequent care."
By concluding that Dr. Lorenzo was entitled to a directed verdict on causation because he was not the primary cause of Espinosa's death, the Third District entered into conflict with our precedent. The record does not reflect that Espinosa's abnormal lab results caused her death. See Ruiz ,
Accordingly, because the decision below is inconsistent with our precedent regarding the proximate causation standard, we quash Ruiz and remand to the Third District for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
PARIENTE, LEWIS, and QUINCE, JJ., concur.
POLSTON, J., dissents with an opinion, in which CANADY, C.J., and LAWSON, J., concur.
We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
We note that the trial court granted Dr. Lorenzo's motion for directed verdict on proximate cause grounds and assumed, for the limited purpose of ruling on that motion, that Dr. Lorenzo breached the standard of care. The issue before the Court is whether, even if the other elements of Ruiz's claim were satisfied, Ruiz failed to present competent, substantial evidence that Dr. Lorenzo proximately caused Espinosa's death. Accordingly, any issue regarding the scope of Dr. Lorenzo's duty to Espinosa is beyond the scope of our review, and we express no opinion with regard to that issue.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Rolando P. RUIZ, Etc., Petitioner, v. TENET HIALEAH HEALTHSYSTEM, INC., Et Al., Respondents.
- Cited By
- 20 cases
- Status
- Published