Opinion ID: 2399207
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Dr. Johnson's Assessment of the Standard of Care

Text: Doctor Johnson was prepared to testify that the applicable standard of care required the OR team to ensure that the patient maintained adequate perfusion or flow of his blood supply to all parts of his body during the surgery and to prevent any inappropriate external or focal pressure from being applied to the patient's body during the surgery that could diminish the blood supply. He testified at the Rule 104 hearing, that it was important to maintain this standard of care throughout the operation. He stated that, in his opinion, focal pressure applied to Owens's arm during the surgery caused his left-arm injury. Although he was unable to say with specificity what type of focal pressure had caused the injury, he suggested that inadvertent movement of the arm during the surgery could have caused it to shift, and to come into contact with an object, which then exerted focal pressure on the arm. [6] One way, he opined, to prevent deviation from this standard of care during a prolonged operation would be to feel periodically underneath the surgical drapes to ensure that the patient's arm was positioned correctly throughout the procedure. Concerning Owens's sciatic nerve and left buttock injuries, Dr. Johnson testified that the failure to discuss with the surgeon removal of the hip roll under the patient's left hip resulted in the reduction of the proper blood flow to that area and caused the injury to the plaintiff's sciatic nerve and left buttock.