Opinion ID: 1250976
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: eccleston's hearing problem and surgery

Text: Since 1983, Eccleston had a hearing problem in his left ear and wore a hearing aid. In 1985, Eccleston was referred to Chait, an otolaryngologist, that is, a physician who specializes in the medical and surgical treatment of problems involving the head and neck, including ears, nose, and throat. Chait diagnosed Eccleston's ear problem as otosclerosis, a degenerative pathological condition of spongy bone that adversely affects the stapes bone within the ear and results in loss of hearing. The stapes is the innermost of three bones located in the middle ear. After entering the ear and proceeding down the ear canal, sound waves produce vibrations in the eardrum. These vibrations activate an adjacent bone, the malleus, or hammer, which articulates with another bone, the incus, or anvil, transmitting vibrations to the stapes, or stirrup, the small bone that imparts the vibrations to the membrane of the inner ear containing a fluid. The vibrations, thus transmitted, then set the inner ear's fluid in motion so that the vibrations are received by nerve endings for transmission by the auditory nerve to the brain. In otosclerosis, the stapes, or stirrup, has been immobilized by bony growth so that on receiving vibrations transmitted from the incus and malleus, the stirrup is unable to wiggle and transmit sound into the adjoining fluid chamber of the inner ear for transmission to the brain. A stapedectomy is the only medically recognized surgical procedure to eliminate otosclerosis. During a stapedectomy, a surgeon removes the stapes, or stirrup, and replaces it with a prosthesis that conducts vibrations to the inner ear. On September 5, 1985, in Omaha, Chait performed a stapedectomy on Eccleston's left ear. As the result of the surgery, Eccleston sustained a total loss of hearing in his left ear. In his negligence action against Chait, Eccleston claimed that Chait had failed to inform and advise the plaintiff of the risks of a left stapedectomy to include a total loss of hearing. Notwithstanding Chait's motion for a directed verdict at conclusion of all the evidence, the case was submitted to the jury, which returned a verdict for Chait. Eccleston sought, but the court denied, a new trial as the result of alleged misconduct during jury deliberations. Eccleston appeals; Chait cross-appeals.