Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-89-01070/USCOURTS-ca10-89-01070-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 362
Nature of Suit: Medical Malpractice
Cause of Action: 

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FILED 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Uaitt-d Stat S Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

NANCY KIMLINGER and DANIEL R. ) 

KIMLINGER, ) 

) 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) 

) 

V • ) 

) 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) 

) 

Defendant-Appellee. ) 

MAR .. 2 1990 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

No. 89-1070 

(D.C. No. 88-M-401) 

(D. Colo.) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before SEYMOUR, TACHA, and EBEL, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

This appeal is from an order of the district court finding 

that plaintiffs ~c::1_iled to prove that the actions of physicians at 

Fitzsimmons Army Hospital fell below the standard of medical care 

in the treatment of Mrs. Kimlinger related to a possible problem 

pregnancy. After a trial to the bench, the district court 

concluded that the failure to advise Mrs. Kimlinger of the 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 89-1070 Document: 01019965789 Date Filed: 03/02/1990 Page: 1 
possibility of loss of an intrauterine p r eganancy was not critical 

to the consent given by the patient for the physicians to proceed 

with the surgery. The district court further found that because 

the failure to advise was not critical to the consent given by the 

patient, any consequences of that failure were not compensable. 

Plaintiffs appeal on the grounds that the district court erred in 

failing to find compensable damages after finding that the actions 

of the physicians in this Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 u.s.c. § 

1345(b) et~, fell below the appropriate standard of care in 

obtaining plaintiff's consent for surgery. We affirm. 

This case arose out of an incident during which Mrs. 

Kimlinger sought the assistance of physicians at Fitzsimmons Army 

Hospital in Denver. She was experiencing severe abdominal pain 

and was examined to determine whether she had an ectopic 

pregnancy. After initial tests and evaluation, the physicians 

recommended that she undergo a laparoscope and, if necessary, a 

laparotomy. The physicians obtained Mrs. Kimlinger's consent but 

did not inform her of the possibility that the procedures could 

result in the loss of a normal intrauterine pregnancy. The 

physicians performed a laparotomy and removed a normal "corpus 

luteum" which accompanies and sustains a normal intrauterine 

pregnancy. A few days later Mrs. Kimlinger passed a blood clot 

followed by bleeding. The on-call physician made a finding of a 

threatened abortion. 

The district court analyzed thoroughly the complexities of 

the medical evidence in this case. We cannot say that he was 

clearly erroneous in finding that the failure to advise the 

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Appellate Case: 89-1070 Document: 01019965789 Date Filed: 03/02/1990 Page: 2 
patient about the possibility of a loss of an intrauterine 

pregnancy was not critical to the consent given by the patient. 

Plaintiffs' witnesses did not establish the likelihood that Mrs. 

Kimlinger would have refused consent if she had been informed of 

the risk of loss of a pregnancy, and the district court's findings 

imply that Mrs. Kimlinger's decision would not have changed. Cf. 

Miller v. Van Newkirk, 628 P.2d 143, 146-47 (Colo. App. 1980). 

For these reasons and the others cited by the district court, we 

cannot say that the district court was clearly erroneous in its 

findings of fact. We further find no reversible error in the 

district court's application of the Colorado law of informed 

consent. The mandate shall issue forthwith. 

AFFIRMED. 

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ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Deanell Reece Tacha 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 89-1070 Document: 01019965789 Date Filed: 03/02/1990 Page: 3