Visingardi v. Tirone

Visingardi v. Tirone

Opinion

 [*602]  The petitioner instituted this wrongful death action, alleging that the negligence of the defendants resulted in the death of his wife. The deceased, aged twenty-six and the mother of three children, was admitted to the respondent hospital on August 13, 1961 for surgery, including a D & C and conization of cervix, uterine suspension, presacral neurectomy, and appendectomy. The surgery was performed by respondent Tirone on the morning of August 16, 1961. On the early evening of that day, the patient began to suffer severe post-operative headaches and to froth at the mouth and lapsed into a state of unconsciousness. She died the following morning. The autopsy report indicated the cause of death as "cerebral [**2]  edema and congestion with degenerative changes of the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia, etiology undetermined."

The defendants were Dr. Tirone, the surgeon, and the hospital. Paraphrased, the negligence alleged against Dr. Tirone was: Negligent performance of the operations; negligent post-operative care of the patient; negligent failure to obtain the patient's consent to the operative procedures; negligent diagnosis of a post-operative shock condition; negligent failure to arrange for specialists to examine and treat the patient after his own care and treatment of her had proved ineffectual; negligent supervision of the operation, administration of anesthesia, and medications relative thereto; and negligent failure to render prompt care and treatment to the deceased after becoming aware of the emergency state of her condition.

The negligence alleged against the hospital was in failing to control and administer its staff, with the result that certain hospital personnel failed to communicate pertinent information to the doctors responsible for the treatment of the deceased and in failing to supervise the staff so that medications ordered by the doctors were given to the patient.

 [**3]   [*603]  After extensive discovery procedures, both defendants moved for summary judgment and filed affidavits in support thereof. In general, these affidavits merely asserted that all that the defendants did was in accordance with accepted standards of the community. In opposition to the motions for summary judgment, plaintiff filed a lengthy affidavit by one Dr. Graubard, a New York medical expert. On the basis of his examination of the hospital records and of the affidavits and depositions in the record, Dr. Graubard listed some fourteen acts of negligence on the part of Dr. Tirone and five on the part of the employees of the hospital. The affidavit concluded as follows:

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