Facts

On Feb. 15, 2006, plaintiff Billy McChristian, 73, complained of right lower quadrant abdominal pain. He checked into the emergency room at Colusa Regional Medical Center. His test results showed he had an elevated white blood cell count. Defendant Danny Colton, a surgeon, ordered a CT scan, which revealed appendicitis. Defendant performed an appendectomy.

During the procedure, defendant noted that plaintiff's appendix had ruptured, producing a stony mass of feces into the abdominal cavity. The rupture caused early abscess formation within the operative site. The defendant concluded the surgery, and plaintiff was discharged from the hospital three days later.

On September 24, plaintiff returned to the hospital, complaining of abdominal pain. Radiodiagnostic studies of the abdomen revealed a small bowel obstruction. Upon performing a second surgery on plaintiff, general surgeon Lawrence Highman found a small bowel obstruction secondary to inflammatory adhesions and barium, as well as abscess from an appendiceal stump.

The plaintiff sued defendant, claiming failure to detect.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that the appendiceal stump was 3-centimeters long. The defendant failed to meet the standard of care when he left too long an appendiceal stump during the initial operation. According to Highman, plaintiff had stump appendicitis because the appendiceal stump or remnant from defendant's operation was too long. Highman opined that defendant's operative note also fell below the standard of care, as defendant failed to record sufficient information to notify subsequent surgeons of the pertinent intraoperative events. The defendant would have met the standard of care had he acknowledged that he left an excessively long appendiceal stump, notified plaintiff of this fact, and performed a completion appendectomy to remove the stump within six to eight weeks of the initial surgery.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant denied the claims, asserting he met the standard of care. He safely completed the appendectomy, even though the procedure was complicated, by an appendiceal perforation and phlegmon. Further, defense general surgery expert Michael Fahey asserted that plaintiff's subsequent surgical procedures were inevitable, regardless of whether the standard of care was met.

Settlement Discussions

There was a $250,000 demand. The offer under Code of Civil Procedure section 998 included a waiver of costs in exchange for dismissal.

Damages

The plaintiff claimed $62,000 in special damages (lost wages and medical bills) and $186,000 to $248,000 in general damages. His wife Sue claimed an unspecified sum for loss of consortium.

Result

The jury found for defendant.

Deliberation

one hour

Poll

9-3

Length

six days