MOUNT VERNON – Madison County jurors reasonably cleared St. Anthony’s Health Center and surgeon Sara Cannon of malpractice, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on July 30.
They affirmed Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs, who entered judgment on a verdict against plaintiff Tonya Monroe.
“This was a straightforward battle of the experts,” wrote Justice Thomas Welch.
“The fact that the jury relied on the testimony of the defense’s experts in reaching their decision is not sufficient to warrant a new trial.”
Justices David Overstreet and Mark Boie concurred.
Monroe filed suit in 2011, claiming Cannon perforated her bladder while performing a diagnostic laparoscopy.
She also alleged negligence in St. Anthony’s care after the operation.
The trial presented a puzzle about when the bladder tore.
In deliberation, jurors twice told Stobbs they deadlocked.
Twice he told them to continue.
They sent him a note asking if “a missed opportunity due to failing to notify the doctor in order to further assess prior to discharge on May 2 be a contributing cause under proximate cause?”
Stobbs talked it over with counsel and said he didn’t think he should give the jury separate instructions from what they had.
He sent a note instructing them to refer to what they had.
They returned with a defense verdict and Stobbs entered judgment.
Monroe asked for a new trial and Stobbs denied it.
On appeal Monroe claimed evidence overwhelmingly favored her.
She claimed Stobbs should have answered the question on proximate cause and should have granted a new trial.
Fifth District judges found no error.
Welch wrote that the court would not disturb a jury verdict unless it was palpably erroneous and wholly unwarranted.
“Whether a deviation from the standard of care was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injury is a question of fact for the jury,” he wrote.
“The jury’s verdict is consistent with the opinions of the defense’s experts and therefore is not wholly unwarranted and must stand.”
He found it undisputed that nurses didn’t accurately inform Cannon and didn’t infuse Monroe with fluids at the rate Cannon ordered.
“However, the jury’s verdict demonstrates that it did not believe that the nurses’ conduct was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s bladder injury,” he wrote.
He found ample evidence that the rupture occurred several days after St. Anthony’s discharged Monroe.
He agreed with Stobbs that answering the question on proximate cause would have supplanted the jury’s finding of fact with his own.
William Hardy of Springfield represented St. Anthony’s and Cannon.
Jack Daugherty and Keith Short of Alton represented Monroe.