Opinion ID: 282911
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Three other men.

Text: 15 Q. What about bathrooming? Did you go and do your own toileting? 16 A. We don't have no toilet in no fo'c'sle. I have to walk and get out of the fo'c'sle to go to the toilet. 17 Q. By the way, were you having any constipation problems? 18 A. Way constipated. Way constipated because I notice the day-- one day I have to do a lot of straining and believe that is the day that my eye started bleeding then and that evening the chief mate come up there to put some medicine in my eye. I could not see his hand then. 19 Q. That was the day you lost the vision? 20 A. That was the day I think I lost it. 21 Q. Do you know how long that was after you were at sea? Whether it was the first day or-- 22 A. Yes. That is the second day. Two days. Two days later, I guess. Two days. 23 Q. In your fo'c'sle, you said that there were three other men? Did their activities allow you to have rest? 24 A. Couldn't have no rest with those guys. Those guys on that particular ship, they have a tape recorder. One guy had a tape recorder and he's over my bunk. I was under him and he played that tape recorder all the way to Singapore and I didn't have no-- have no peace in that particular room with them, but I didn't say nothing about it because that is up to the ship to move me out of there. I didn't complain about nothing like that. 25 Q. Were there any other disturbing activities of the men in the room? 26 A. Well, yes. Because we had some guys there they gambles at night on that ship and they goes back and forth and run into the locker, bam, bam-- the lockers, getting money out to go and gamble. 27 Q. What was your-- what were the facts about your comfort or lack of comfort? 28 A. Well, I didn't have no comfort at all after I got hurt. I believe I would have had better comfort in the hospital if I was moved to the hospital in the ship.' 29 The general surroundings described above were, to say the least, not conducive to rest. 30 The mate and/or the Captain visited Sambula every day to check on his condition and to administer drops in his eye. This, however, was the extent of his medical attention during the voyage to Singapore. 31 When the voyage began, Sambula's eye was bandaged, but he had vision. Sambula testified that on the second or third day out he suffered a loss of vision in his right eye, suddenly and completely, accompanied by severe pain. 32 When the SS GREEN POINT arrived in Singapore on January 21, Sambula was taken immediately to Dr. Wong Kin Yip, an ophthalmologist, who recommended removal of the eye at the earliest possible date. Dr. Yip attributed the blindness to a ruptured globe caused by the initial blow on the eye, and suggested that Sambula should have been placed under the care of an ophthalmologist in Inchon. 3 33 Sambula was flown at the ship's expense from Singapore to the United States. On February 4, the eye was removed at the Public Health Hospital in Galveston, Texas. The operation was successful. Sambula was fitted with an artificial eye and subsequently certified fit for duty as a messman. 34 The report of the post operative pathological examination of the eye confirmed the hypothesis of ruptured globe, more specifically at the equator superiorly and laterally. Blindness was caused by blood hemorrhaging through the rupture and separating the retina from the back wall of the eye. The eye cavity was filled with clotted blood. 35 Dr. Sylvan Brandon, an ophthalmologist who was the only medical expert to testify at the trial, concluded that in all medical probability blindness was caused by a secondary hemorrhage. The globe was ruptured by the blow to the eye. The initial rupture, however, clotted over and the retina was not destroyed at this time. As long as the clot remained in place, vision was not lost. Only when the clot broke loose several days later with the attendant hemorrhaging of blood into the eye cavity was the retina destroyed and vision irreparably lost. This was the secondary hemorrhage. The normal strain of getting up to eat and to go to the bathroom was sufficient to cause the clot to break loose. Therefore, the only proper medical treatment for a ruptured globe is complete bed rest under hospital care. Bed rest under other than hospital conditions would not, in Dr. Brandon's opinion be proper medical care. If Sambula had been given complete hospital bed rest, which was not available aboard the ship, the clot might have strengthened, the rupture might have healed, and blindness might have been avoided. Blindness was not inevitable at the time of the initial injury. Furthermore, in Dr. Brandon's opinion, a general practitioner is not qualified to treat an injury of this nature. 36 The district court's findings of fact concluded as follows, 268 F.Supp. 1: 37 'Dr. Lee's answers to interrogatories and medical reports show that he failed to diagnose correctly the injury to Sambula's eye. The crucial fact question with regard to Dr. Lee's conduct is therefore whether the symptoms apparent to Dr. Lee were sufficient to compel a proper diagnosis. According to Dr. Brandon they were. The swelling and dark bluish color on the periphery of the retina, according to Dr. Brandon, was the unmistakable key to a proper diagnosis of the ruptured globe. When that symptom was noted, proper medical care would dictate that Sambula be hospitalized immediately and the services of an expert opthalmologist secured. Contrary to the conclusion of Dr. Lee, the presence of the swelling and bluish color on the retina was a dangerous symptom of which proper account should have been taken. Dr. Lee's statement that he found no dangerous symptoms can only be taken as an admission that he failed to recognize what Dr. Brandon says is a clear danger signal. 38 'In summary, the globe of plaintiff's eye was ruptured by the blow he received in the street fight. Although injury to the eye itself was apparent, plaintiff was not taken to an eye specialist. Instead, he was taken to a general practitioner who failed to diagnose the rupture because he did not take proper account of the swelling and bluish color at the periphery of the retina. Having failed to make the proper diagnosis, that doctor of course failed to prescribe proper medical treatment. He also failed to consult ophthalmologists available in Inchon. Plaintiff was thus permitted to return to the ship and engage in a course of conduct which was calculated to cause the secondary hemorrhage. The secondary hemorrhage was the cause of blindness. 39 'As a result of the loss of his eye, plaintiff has experienced pain and suffering and great personal inconvenience in the conduct of his daily affairs.' 40 The district court found that Dr. Lee was negligent in failing to properly diagnose and treat Sambula's eye and in failing to consult one of the eye specialists available in the vicinity of Inchon. This negligence was imputed to Central Gulf, the owner of the SS GREEN POINT. Using the following language, the district court also found the ship and its owner negligent in the selection of and continued reliance on Dr. Lee. 41 'Disregarding for the moment its liability for Dr. Lee's negligence, the ship was also guilty of negligence in its selection of Dr. Lee as the treating physician. Neither Dr. Lee nor the ship's agent could speak or understand English. Plaintiff could therefore not communicate his symptoms or understand any advice which may have been given. Moreover, the outward appearance of Sambula's eye should have put even a layman on notice that the services of an eye specialist were required. The fact that an ophthalmologist may not have been immediately available would not excuse the failure to consult one on the following day, or at some time before allowing Sambula to sail for Singapore. 42 'Sambula's eye was not irreparably lost for several days after the injury during the voyage to Singapore. He should have been hospitalized in Inchon as soon as possible. This was not done either because Dr. Lee failed to recognize the clear danger signal or because the ship's agent failed to provide a proper doctor. Either act was negligent and is imputed to the ship. 43 'The blow to Sambula's eye placed in motion a chain of circumstances which would ultimately produce blindness unless some intervening act interrupted the sequence. By virtue of the guardian-ward relationship existing between ship owner and seaman, it was defendant's duty to intervene by providing proper medical care. This duty was breached. Certainly, at that point it was foreseeable that the breach of the duty to provide proper medical care would result in blindness. 44 'In conclusion, defendant has committed negligent acts. Plaintiff's blindness was caused in whole or in part by such negligence. Plaintiff is therefore entitled to recover from defendant the sum of $32,500.00 as just compensation for the loss of his eye.'