Opinion ID: 1593633
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: does dr. wansley's alleged malpractice fall under the layman exception, making it unnecessary to present expert testimony?

Text: ¶ 28. According to Hubbard, even if Dr. Stringer was found to be unqualified to testify in this case and Dr. Wansley should not be held to the standard of a neurosurgeon or neurologist, summary judgment was still inappropriate. She argues that she is not required to present expert testimony because Dr. Wansley's conduct falls within the layman exception. ¶ 29. Generally, a physician's negligence may be established only through the testimony of an expert witness, but in an instance where a layman can observe and understand the negligence as a matter of common sense and practical experience, expert testimony is not necessary. Palmer v. Anderson Infirmary Benevolent Ass'n, 656 So.2d 790, 795 (Miss. 1995) (citing Walker v. Skiwski, 529 So.2d 184, 187 (Miss.1988)). Lay testimony is sufficient to establish only those things that are purely factual in nature or thought to be in the common knowledge of laymen. Drummond v. Buckley, 627 So.2d 264, 268 (Miss.1993) (citing Kelley v. Frederic, 573 So.2d 1385, 1388 (Miss.1990); Palmer, 564 So.2d at 1355; and Walker, 529 So.2d at 187). ¶ 30. The layman's exception applies to situations of obvious negligence. For instance, a layman can understand without expert testimony that `the unauthorized and unexplained leaving of an object inside a patient during surgery is negligence.' Sheffield v. Goodwin, 740 So.2d 854, 857 (Miss.1999) (quoting Coleman v. Rice, 706 So.2d 696, 698 (Miss.1997)). ¶ 31. Hubbard points to Hammond v. Grissom, 470 So.2d 1049 (Miss.1985), as a specific example of how her situation falls under the layman's exception. In that case the Court found that an issue regarding an absence of medical care for two hours did not require expert testimony as it was within the layman's exception. Hubbard claims that this is similar to Dr. Wansley's absence from the hospital until 2:00 p.m. on May 12, 1997. The patient in Hammond had fallen and injured her head. Id. at 1050-51. She was taken to the emergency room, and after x-rays were taken, was placed in a treating room at 2:25 p.m. At this time, Hammond's two daughters were with her and she was bleeding profusely from her right ear, her nose, and the back of her head. The daughters testified that they themselves began to clean their mother's wounds with any swabbing material they could find as no medical treatment was being given by hospital personnel. Hammond's daughters also found an orderly to remove Hammond's dentures so she wouldn't choke. They had to go to other rooms to get more materials so that they could clean up Hammond's continued bleeding, and they even had to find a bedpan for Hammond's use. Approximately twenty minutes later, the defendant doctor came into the room with the results of Hammond's x-rays revealing that she had suffered a skull fracture and would require the services of a neurosurgeon. The doctor left, and Hammond remained in the treating room until about 4:10 p.m., when two nurses began an intravenous drip and then left. At 4:30 p.m., two candy stripers took Hammond to the intensive care unit, where they arrived at 4:45 p.m. The IV drip was the only medical care administered to Hammond by hospital personnel in the period between being taken to the treating room at 2:25 p.m. and being put in the ICU at 4:45 p.m. Upon examination in the ICU, Hammond was found to be in an irreversible state neurologically, and she died that night. Id. ¶ 32. The absence of Dr. Wansley from the hospital until 2:00 p.m. on May 12, 1997, is not even remotely comparable to the level of neglect that this Court saw in Hammond. Hubbard does not claim, nor can she, that she was left without medical care. Further, Hubbard's claim that Dr. Wansley's failure to consult Dr. Gorman brings this case within the layman's exception is also without merit. Dr. Wansley, while not present, did give orders over the phone to the emergency room doctors and nurses who were caring for Hubbard, and those orders included the consultation of the neurologist, Dr. Gorman. The alleged negligence in this case does not fall under the layman's exception.