Automated Summary
Key Facts
Festus Ogbebor filed a medical malpractice suit against Lafayette General Medical Center and physicians Dr. Louis Salvaggio and Dr. Nick Cavros following his wife Mary Ogbebor's death from chest pain complications. On June 21, 2013, Mrs. Ogbebor received cardiac treatment at LGMC; she was discharged July 2, 2013. On July 4, 2013, she returned with severe chest pain and died before the cath lab was notified (5:37 a.m. return, 6:11 a.m. notification, 6:31 a.m. death). A medical review panel concluded no breach of standard of care. The trial court granted summary judgment against Ogbebor for failure to produce a proper expert affidavit, then granted a new trial when he submitted an affidavit from expert Dr. Korn as 'new evidence.' Defendants seek supervisory review to reverse the new trial grant and reinstate summary judgment.
Issues
- In a medical malpractice action, expert testimony is required to establish the applicable standard of care and whether it was breached, unless negligence is obvious to a lay person. The plaintiff must present evidence establishing the standard of care, breach of that standard, and causal connection between breach and injury. The court must determine whether the affidavit from Dr. Korn satisfied the evidentiary requirements of La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(A)(4) and whether the plaintiff properly rebutted the medical review panel's conclusions.
- The appellate court must determine if the trial court abused its discretion in granting a motion for new trial under La.Code Civ.P. art. 1972 when the plaintiff submitted an expert affidavit from Dr. Korn after the summary judgment hearing. The issue involves whether the affidavit constituted newly discovered evidence that the plaintiff could not have obtained with due diligence, and whether the plaintiff met the burden of proving adequate grounds for a new trial. The court must assess if the plaintiff properly established that a hurricane/national disaster prevented timely filing of the affidavit.
Holdings
The court found the trial court abused its discretion in granting Mr. Ogbebor's motion for new trial. The writ is granted, the trial court's ruling is reversed, and the judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Applicants is reinstated. The court determined that Mr. Ogbebor did not establish that a hurricane/national disaster prevented Dr. Korn from preparing, executing, and forwarding an affidavit before the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, as he admitted he could have obtained the affidavit if he thought it was required.
Remedies
The appellate court granted the supervisory writ and made it peremptory, reversed the trial court's ruling that granted a motion for new trial, and reinstated the summary judgment in favor of the Applicants (Dr. Louis A. Salvaggio and Dr. Nick G. Cavros). All costs of the proceeding are taxed to the Plaintiff/Respondent, Festus Ogbebor.
Legal Principles
In medical malpractice actions, the plaintiff must present evidence establishing the applicable standard of care, a breach of the standard of care, and a causal connection between the breach and the injury. Expert testimony is generally required to establish the standard of care unless negligence is so obvious that a lay person can infer negligence without expert guidance. For a motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence, the moving party bears the burden of proving adequate grounds, including showing the evidence was discovered after proceedings concluded and that every reasonable and diligent effort was made to procure it before the proceedings. The trial court's grant of a new trial is reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard.
Precedent Name
- Samaha v. Rau
- McGinn v. Crescent City Connection Bridge Auth.
- Pfiffner v. Correa
- Holloway Drilling Equip., Inc. v. Bodin
- Burns v. Sedgwick Claims Management Services
Cited Statute
- La. Code of Civil Procedure Article 966 Section A Subsection 4
- Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2794
- La. Code of Civil Procedure Article 1972
- La. Code of Civil Procedure Article 1973
- La. Code of Civil Procedure Article 966 Section B Subsection 2
Judge Name
- Shannon J. Gremillion
- Van H. Kyzar
- John E. Conery
Passage Text
- "The moving party bears the burden of proving that there are adequate grounds for a new trial. When a claim is made that a new trial is warranted due to newly discovered evidence, there must be a clear showing, not only that the evidence was discovered after the conclusion of the proceedings, but that every reasonable and diligent effort was made to procure it before the proceedings."
- "For these reasons, we find that the trial court abused its discretion in granting Mr. Ogbebor's motion for new trial. Applicants' writ is granted, the trial court's ruling reversed, and the judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Applicants is reinstated. All costs of this proceeding are taxed to Plaintiff/Respondent, Festus Ogbebor, individually and on behalf of his deceased wife, Mary Ogbebor."
- "Mr. Ogbebor did not establish that a hurricane/national disaster prevented Dr. Korn from preparing, executing, and forwarding an affidavit to him before the hearing on the motion for summary judgment. Indeed, he admitted that 'we could have . . . got [sic] the affidavit if [wethought] that it was required,' but then implied that he thought the requirement would not apply because of the 'national event.'"