Carter v. Azaran
Case Date: 07/22/2002
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-01-0736 Rel
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No. 1-01-0736 First Division
Plaintiff Elizabeth Carter, independent administrator of the estate of her deceased husband,Paul Carter (Paul), sued defendant Dr. Abdol Azaran for medical negligence arising out ofdefendant's treatment of Paul. Following trial, a jury awarded plaintiff $385,000 for aggravation ofPaul's pre-existing conditions, $1,060,000 for pain and suffering, and $55,172 for medical expenses. Defendant was granted a set-off of $125,000 in recognition of plaintiff's prior settlement with thenursing home where defendant was employed. After awarding plaintiff certain costs and grantingdefendant a remittitur of $1,063 for certain medical expenses, the trial court entered judgment infavor of plaintiff for $1,375,172. On appeal, defendant first argues that the trial court erred in limiting the cross-examinationof three witnesses. Defendant further argues that he is entitled to judgment notwithstanding theverdict or a new trial because the jury's award for pain and suffering was improperly based onspeculation and was not supported by the evidence. Finally, defendant argues that he is entitled toa substantial remittitur because the award for pain and suffering was excessive and because Paulwould have incurred certain medical expenses regardless of defendant's negligence. For thefollowing reasons, we affirm. BACKGROUND Plaintiff filed suit as independent administrator of her late husband Paul's estate againstdefendant and The Imperial of Hazelcrest nursing facility (Imperial) alleging medical negligence forfailure to properly treat Paul's diabetes. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Imperial with prejudicefollowing a $125,000 settlement and then proceeded to trial against defendant. At trial, plaintiff testified that she had known Paul for approximately 44 years and that Paulhad been diabetic "[e]ver since right after [plaintiff] met him." According to plaintiff, Paul hadrequired daily injections of insulin since late1988. Paul began to develop symptoms of Alzheimer'sdisease in 1992 and in February 1994 was admitted to Glenwood Nursing Home. Following a fallin December 1994 at Glenwood, Paul was admitted to St. James Hospital. Doctors there determinedthat Paul had suffered a stroke and diagnosed him with spinal canal stenosis, pneumonia, fever, aurinary tract infection and dehydration. During his St. James admission, Paul became bedridden anddeveloped a decubitus ulcer (bedsore) on his lower back. Following Paul's discharge from St. James on January 13, 1995, plaintiff had Paul admittedto Imperial because she believed Imperial offered better care for bedridden patients. Paul was placedunder the care of defendant Dr. Azaran, Imperial's medical director. Plaintiff informed defendantthat Paul was diabetic and required daily insulin. At this time, defendant continued an order enteredby the attending physician at St. James directing that Paul be given a daily dose of Humulin N, along-acting form of insulin. On January 19, 1995, defendant transferred Paul to Ingalls Memorial Hospital for treatmentof a urinary tract infection. Based upon Paul's condition while at Ingalls, defendant continued theorder for Humulin N, ordered blood glucose monitoring four times a day, and directed that Paul begiven varying doses of Humulin R, a fast-acting form of insulin, should his blood glucose exceedspecified levels. Because Paul was eating less at the time, defendant discontinued the order forHumulin N on January 26, 1995. Paul was released from Ingalls and readmitted to Imperial on February 1, 1995. Traci Foster,a nurse employed by Imperial at the time of Paul's second admission, testified that her supervisor,Anne Ndyetabula, copied orders for medication for Paul from a transfer form received from Ingallsonto a physician order sheet used by Imperial. Among the orders copied from the transfer form tothe physician order sheet were: (1) an order for blood glucose monitoring to be conducted beforemeals and at bedtime; and (2) an order for various doses of Humulin R to be administered shouldPaul's blood glucose exceed specified limits. No Humulin N was ordered. Nurse Foster spoke withdefendant by phone to confirm the orders included on the forms. Nurse Foster testified that, afterdefendant directed her to discontinue the orders for blood glucose monitoring and Humulin R, shewrote "D/C" next to each of these orders. Nurse Foster then faxed or telephoned the verified ordersto the pharmacy. Defendant signed the orders two days later. In addition, Nurse Foster read into the record her initial nursing note entered on February 1,1995. Nurse Foster's note reflected a long-term diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer's, seizure disorder,diabetes, a tumor of the lung, decubitus ulcers, fever and sepsis. The note recorded a decubitus ulcerfour inches in diameter on Paul's tailbone and a 1 to 1 |
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