Opinion ID: 1559793
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Vaughn's children should have been allowed to offer lay testimony as to proximate cause.

Text: ¶ 25. Vaughn argues that her adult children, who attended her bedside during her hospitalizations, can attest to the fact that the nurses deviated from the standard of nursing care during the course of Vaughn's treatment at Baptist. Vaughn argues that the signs and symptoms of infection exhibited from October 24, 2005, to November 2, 2005, are a matter of common sense and practical experience, such that her children should be allowed to testify under the layman's exception. Vaughn cites testimony by her children regarding the marked changes in the appearance of her wounds, as well as the contamination of the wounds from urine and feces. Vaughn's children offered further testimony as to the deviation in the nursing standard of care, including failure to properly dress and clean wounds and failure to keep Vaughn's room in sanitary condition. ¶ 26. As previously stated, a medical expert is not necessary in instances in which a layman can observe and understand the negligence as a matter of common sense and practical experience. Gatlin v. Methodist Med. Ctr., 772 So.2d 1023, 1026 (Miss.2000) (citing Coleman v. Rice, 706 So.2d 696, 698 (Miss.1997)). This Court has applied the layman's exception in cases involving foreign objects left inside patients or where patients were given the wrong medication. Smith v. Gilmore Mem'l Hosp., Inc., 952 So.2d 177, 181 (Miss.2007) (citing Dailey v. Methodist Med. Ctr., 790 So.2d 903 (Miss.App.2001); Coleman v. Rice, 706 So.2d 696, 698 (Miss. 1997)). However, diagnosing symptoms has been explicitly held by this Court to be outside of the realm of a lay person and an activity that requires a medical expert. Id. ¶ 27. Accordingly, Vaughn's argument that lay-witness testimony can establish the element of proximate cause is without merit. A lay witness cannot render an opinion as to whether the symptoms exhibited by Vaughn were associated with infection.