Solorio v. Lampros

Opinion

DRAPER, P. J.

Plaintiffs sought damages from three doctors and a hospital for the death of their son, allegedly the result of malpractice. The sole experts called by plaintiff in this jury trial were the defendant doctors. Motions for nonsuit were made when plaintiffs rested. The court offered plaintiffs an opportunity to present additional medical evidence. The offer was not accepted, and nonsuit was granted as to all defendants. Plaintiffs appeal only from the judgment in favor of Drs. Lampros and Truitt.

Raul A. Solorio, 22, accompanied his parents when they took his 4-year-old brother to the hospital emergency room March 6, 1964, for treatment of lacerations. As the brother’s lacerations were being cleaned, Raul apparently fainted. He fell backward, striking his head on the steel frame of a bed and then on the floor. Dr. Lampros, a general practitioner, examined and treated Raul. The next morning, he visited the patient again, and called Dr.

[524]

Truitt, a neurologist, for consultation. The two doctors examined the patient, and left orders that one of them be called by the nurses if specific conditions arose. They did not specify that the call should be made to Dr. Truitt. At about 8 a.m., March 8, the specified condition was observed by the nurses. In accordance wth hospital policy, they called the admitting physician, Dr. Lampros. He arrived at the hospital between 8:45 and 9 a.m., saw the patient, and called Dr. Truitt. The latter arrived at about 10 a.m. Between 10:30 and 11 a.m., Dr. Truitt ordered the hospital staff to prepare for an arteriogram, a procedure in which there is placed in blood vessels of the neck a dye which moves to the brain and shows up in X-ray photos. This procedure will in some cases, but not all, reveal a hematoma, which is an accumulation of blood. Simultaneously with this direction to the hospital staff, he called Dr. Becker, a neurosurgeon. Some 45 minutes after the order to prepare for the arteriogram, the patient developed difficulty in breathing. Dr. Truitt had a tube put down the windpipe to facilitate breathing, and determined not to proceed with the arteriogram. Dr. Becker arrived at the hospital between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m., talked to Dr, Truitt, and went to the operating room. Surgery began at 1:05 p.m.. Dr. Becker made burr holes in the patient’s skull and explored through them in an effort to find a hematoma which could be relieved. Although he did remove small quantities of blood, he found no sizeable hematoma and concluded that the patient had an intracerebral injury with brain softening, and that no further surgery was indicated. Raul was returned to the ward, where he died at 5:55 a.m.