Freeman v. LTC Healthcare of Statesboro, Inc.
329 Ga. App. 763
| Ga. Ct. App. | 2014Background
- Mary Freeman, a hospice patient with post‑operative quadriplegia and a tracheostomy, was transferred to Westwood Nursing Center on March 19, 2003 with orders for albuterol, oxygen monitoring, and tracheostomy suctioning.
- Westwood records show a feeding tube placed at 4:00 p.m., but no documentation of other ordered respiratory care that afternoon/evening.
- Shortly before midnight a nurse found Mrs. Freeman unresponsive with frothy secretions, no blood pressure, faint pulse; she died from respiratory failure early March 20.
- Plaintiff (Charles Freeman, individually and as estate administrator) sued Westwood for medical malpractice, offering nurse Donna Jones as an expert who opined Westwood breached nursing standards and that, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, adherence would have prevented Freeman’s death.
- Westwood moved for summary judgment arguing absence of evidence of causation; the trial court excluded Jones’s causation opinion as beyond her competence and granted summary judgment.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether a nurse may give expert causation opinion in medical malpractice | Jones’s affidavit/opinion: breaches in nursing care proximately caused Mrs. Freeman’s respiratory failure and death | Jones lacks qualification to opine on medical causation; without a competent causation opinion there is no triable issue | Court: No categorical bar on nurses testifying about causation, but Jones’s causation opinion was outside her expertise; excluded and summary judgment affirmed |
| Whether plaintiff produced evidence establishing proximate causation | Jones’s causation opinion supplies the necessary link | Absent a competent expert causation opinion, plaintiff has no evidence of proximate cause | Held: Without Jones’s excluded opinion, plaintiff failed to show causation; summary judgment proper |
Key Cases Cited
- Cowart v. Widener, 287 Ga. 622 (summary judgment burden and evidence standards)
- Zwiren v. Thompson, 276 Ga. 498 (causation in medical malpractice requires expert proof to reasonable degree of medical probability)
- Sinkfield v. Oh, 229 Ga. App. 883 (non‑physicians may testify on medical issues within their expertise)
- Avret v. McCormick, 246 Ga. 401 (licensed RNs may testify as experts within their scope)
- Chandler Exterminators v. Morris, 262 Ga. 257 (diagnosis is medical domain; non‑physicians generally barred from medical diagnoses)
- Elswick v. Nichols, 144 F. Supp. 2d 758 (nurse competent to testify about breaches but not causation when causation required medical diagnosis)