Maldonado et al v. Noya-Monagas et al, No. 3:2008cv01703 - Document 232 (D.P.R. 2010)

Court Description: OPINION and ORDER AFFIRMING OPINION and ORDER at Docket No. 224. Signed by Judge Gustavo A. Gelpi on 08/18/10.(SAA)

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Maldonado et al v. Noya-Monagas et al 1 Doc. 232 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SANDRA MALDONADO MORALES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil No. 08-1703 (GAG) DR. JORGE NOYA MONAGAS, et al., Defendants. 9 10 OPINION AND ORDER 11 On July 7, 2010, Plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration (Docket No. 212) of the court s 12 opinion and order (Docket No. 207) granting in part and denying in part Defendants motion for 13 summary judgment (Docket No. 140). In its opinion and order (Docket No. 207), the court found 14 that Plaintiffs had failed to present sufficient evidence to establish PCH s liability. The court found 15 that, in light of the vicarious liability doctrine, as established in Marquez Vega v. Martinez Rosado, 16 116 P.R. Dec. 397, 16 P.R. Offic. Trans. 487 (1985), the hospital could not be held liable for the 17 exclusive negligence of an unsalaried physician with hospital privileges who was first and foremost 18 entrusted with the patient s health. Thus, the court granted summary judgment on this ground. 19 Plaintiffs moved to reconsider the court s order regarding PCH s liability given the 20 exception for obvious negligence established in Marquez Vega. (See Docket No. 212 at 1.) In its 21 opinion and order (Docket No. 224), the court granted Plaintiffs motion for reconsideration holding 22 that Plaintiffs had demonstrated a triable issue of fact as to whether Dr. Noya had committed obvious 23 acts of negligence. (See Docket No. 224 at 4.) Furthermore, the court found that Plaintiffs had also 24 demonstrated a triable issue of fact as to PCH s liability for its alleged failure to properly oversee 25 the record-keeping practices of Dr. Noya. (See Docket No. 224 at 5.) After considering PCH s 26 motion to show cause (Docket No. 218), and reexamining the pertinent law, the court AFFIRMS 27 its previous order at Docket No. 224. 28 In its motion to show cause (Docket No. 218), PCH contends that Plaintiffs have failed to Dockets.Justia.com Civil No. 08-1703 (GAG) 2 1 present any evidence creating a material issue of fact as to whether or not any of Dr. Noya s actions 2 could be considered obvious negligence for purposes of assigning liability to PCH. In making this 3 assertion, PCH points to the fact that all of Plaintiff s allegations of obvious negligence are 4 supported by expert testimony, and as such would not be recognizable by a lay person. However, 5 in making this assertion PCH assumes that all of Plaintiff s allegations of obvious negligence could 6 only be supported by expert testimony. Such an assumption is unwarranted. The testimony 7 presented by Plaintiff s expert, Dr. Wingate, presents sufficient evidence upon which a jury could 8 determine that Dr. Noya s alleged acts of negligence were sufficiently obvious that the hospital had 9 the opportunity to intervene. (See Docket No. 158-9.) Compare Daniels-Recio v. Hospital Del 10 Maestro, 109 F.3d 88, 92 (D.P.R. 1997) (granting summary judgment on hospital s liability because 11 Plaintiff s expert presented no testimony rais[ing] a genuine issue as to whether any act of 12 malpractice by [the treating physician] was so obvious that [the hospital] should have intervened. ). 13 As said testimony exists in this case, the court is unable to decide this issue on summary judgment. 14 Defendant PCH further contends that Plaintiffs cannot premise their allegations of obvious 15 negligence on PCH s failure to oversee proper record keeping and conduct peer review, alleging that 16 these arguments were only first raised in their motion for reconsideration. However, regardless of 17 whether such actions constitute obvious negligence, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court has held that 18 failure by a hospital to properly oversee record-keeping can result in its own liability. See Blas 19 Toledo v. Hospital Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe, 146 P.R. Dec. 267 (1998) As these allegations 20 were included in Plaintiff s original complaint (See Docket No. 127 at 7) as well as Plaintiff s 21 opposition to Defendants motion for summary judgment (See Docket No. 159 at 18) the court 22 considered this basis for PCH s liability when ruling on Plaintiff s motion for reconsideration. In 23 considering the expert testimony and report of Dr. Wingate (Docket No. 158-9), the court finds that 24 Plaintiffs have presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether 25 PCH failed to oversee the proper documentation of the medical care provided to Sanchez Vidal as 26 well as to conduct peer review with regard to the treatment provided by Dr. Noya. Therefore, the 27 court cannot rule as a matter of law with regard to this basis for PCH s liability. 28 Civil No. 08-1703 (GAG) 1 IV. 3 Conclusion 2 For the aforementioned reasons, the court AFFIRMS its previous order at Docket No. 224 3 and therefore DENIES summary judgment on the issue of the hospital s liability for Dr. Noya s 4 alleged acts of obvious negligence and on the issue of whether the hospital is liable for Sanchez 5 Vidal s death due to its failure to oversee proper record keeping and conduct peer review. 6 SO ORDERED. 7 In San Juan, Puerto Rico this 18th day of August, 2010. 8 S/Gustavo A. Gelpí 9 GUSTAVO A. GELPI 10 United States District Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

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