Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; April 8, 1999; New York; State Appellate Court
The judgment from the Supreme Court in Tompkins County, favoring the defendants, is being appealed by the plaintiff, who alleges that negligent care during her son Quandale's birth at Cayuga Medical Center led to his severe disabilities, including spastic cerebral palsy and profound mental retardation. The jury trial featured extensive expert testimony regarding the cause of Quandale's injuries, with a consensus that oxygen deprivation was a factor, but conflicting theories on its origin. The plaintiff's expert claimed a three-hour delay in performing a Cesarean section contributed to the oxygen deprivation, while the defendants’ experts attributed the lack of oxygen to an acute event occurring 36 to 48 hours before delivery, asserting that the medical actions taken adhered to accepted standards.
The jury resolved the conflicting expert testimonies in favor of the defendants, a decision deemed appropriate by the appellate court. The plaintiff also contested the ruling that the Dead Man's Statute barred her mother from testifying about pre- and during-hospitalization conversations with the obstetrician. Even if this ruling was incorrect, the court found it harmless since the testimony was not pertinent to the malpractice claim. Furthermore, the court upheld the admissibility of testimony from a nurse and a social worker regarding the plaintiff's drug and alcohol use during her pregnancy, rejecting the plaintiff's arguments about improper disclosure and hearsay.
Cayuga Medical Center and Flacco did not specifically identify Koski or Schrock in their responses to the plaintiff's demand; however, both were mentioned in hospital charts available to the plaintiff before the trial. The plaintiff was questioned about her statements to Koski during her pre-trial examination, and her counsel introduced these records into evidence, subject to a hearsay objection. Therefore, the plaintiff cannot claim surprise or prejudice from any nondisclosure. Challenges to the admissibility of statements made to Koski and Schrock were deemed unmeritorious. Additionally, the court found no error in allowing pediatric pathologist Cynthia Kaplan to use photographic slides of Quandale’s placental and cord tissue during her testimony, as the slides were not covered by the plaintiff's discovery demand, thus no penalty was warranted for nondisclosure. The court also correctly granted a missing witness charge against the plaintiff for not testifying, while denying a similar charge for defendant Rose Flacco, as the plaintiff was deemed knowledgeable about critical issues in the case. Other evidentiary issues raised by the plaintiff were found to be harmless or lacking merit. The judgment was affirmed without costs. Flacco had died before the action commenced, and his spouse, as executor of his estate, was named as a defendant.
