Opinion
Nos. 206, 207.
Argued November 2, 1971. —
Decided November 30, 1971.
APPEALS from judgments of the circuit court for La Crosse county: LINCOLN NEPRUD, Reserve Circuit Judge. Affirmed.
For the appellants there were briefs by Arthur E. Sheridan of Waukon, Iowa, and Hale, Skemp, Hanson, Schnurrer Skemp of La Crosse, and oral argument by William P. Skemp.
For the respondent there was a brief by Johns, Flaherty, Harman Gillette of La Crosse, and oral argument by Daniel T. Flaherty.
These are appeals from judgments of the circuit court for La Crosse county, which judgments dismissed the complaints of Venance W. Eden and his wife, Lillian, against the La Crosse Lutheran Hospital, and granted judgments to the La Crosse Lutheran Hospital on its counterclaim against Venance W. Eden for hospital expenses and interest thereon. The judgments dismissing the complaints of Venance W. Eden and his wife, Lillian, followed an order for a directed verdict.
The principal actions brought by Venance W. and Lillian Eden are for the recovery of damages for injuries sustained in a fall while Lillian Eden was a patient at the hospital. The amended complaint of Lillian Eden alleged damages for personal injuries in the amount of $100,000 and the complaint of her husband alleged damages for medical and hospital bills and loss of companionship in the sum of $12,330. The hospital's counterclaim was for unpaid bills.
The cases were tried to a jury, which found the hospital causally negligent and the patient Lillian Eden negligent but not causally so. Negligence was apportioned 80 percent to the defendant hospital and 20 percent to Lillian Eden. The verdict awarded $10,000 to Lillian Eden and $3,000 to Venance Eden. Medical expenses to compensate Venance Eden were stipulated in the verdict in two separate sums of $1,983.64 and $1,755.08. The verdict on the counterclaim was in the stipulated sum of $2,358.11.
At the close of evidence, the defendant hospital moved for a directed verdict dismissing the amended complaints and for judgment on its counterclaim. The trial court reserved its ruling on that motion. After verdict, the defendant renewed its motion for directed verdict. The major ground for these motions was that there was no evidence adduced from which the defendant could be found causally negligent. In a written memorandum decision the court expressed its surprise at the jury's verdict and granted the defendant's motion for a directed verdict. The plaintiffs have appealed from the judgments that ensued, claiming that an issue of fact for the jury had been raised by the evidence.
At the time of the injuries on the morning of September 6, 1964, Lillian Eden was seventy-two years of age. She was an active woman, who assisted her husband in his business and engaged in gardening and social activities. She claimed that she had never been hospitalized since the birth of her last child in 1929. She was admitted to the hospital in the early evening hours of September 4th for a checkup and examination in respect to a possible gall bladder condition. She was not ill, was not restricted to her bed, was allowed the use of the bathroom in her room, and was free to walk about in the general hospital area if she chose to do so. Her bed was adjustable, and at the time of the accident was adjusted to a height of approximately 36 inches from the floor.
Lillian Eden stated at trial that she had some difficulty getting out of bed before the accident, but it is clear that she had never complained to any of the hospital personnel, and she testified at trial that she never thought of asking for a footstool because she could get up herself.
On the night of September 4th she was given a sedative and six pills to be taken at five-minute intervals. These pills were not a laxative, but there was testimony that they could have that effect on some people. They contained a dye and their purpose was to make the gall bladder more easily discernible in X rays. Lillian Eden slept well and without incident on the night of September 4th-5th. Although she stated that she went to the bathroom six or eight times during the daytime on September 5th, she did not indicate that there was any urgency in responding to the call of nature on that day. The X rays failed to reveal any abnormalities that required further hospitalization, and she was told on the morning of September 5th that she was free to leave the hospital. However, after some discussion with her doctor, it was determined that she could stay so that a diet could be prepared that might give relief from the gastric symptoms she had suffered prior to her admission to the hospital. She was not given the medication in question on the night of September 5th. Although her counsel in the brief on this appeal asserts that she was given sedatives and pills on that night which had a cathartic effect, that statement is contrary to the facts of record and is wholly unsupported by the exhibit upon which plaintiffs' counsel relies.
The accident occurred at approximately 3 a. m. on the morning of September 6th. Lillian Eden testified that she awoke with an urgent need to go to the bathroom. She turned on the light, but did not call a nurse because her past experience led her to conclude that it would take fifteen minutes for the nurse to get there. She testified that she fell forward as she attempted to get out of bed. She crawled on her hands and knees to the bathroom, was there fifteen or twenty minutes, and then returned to her bed. A practical nurse noticed the light on in her room. The practical nurse testified that Lillian Eden told her she had "slipped on the footstool" and that there was a footstool in the room which she had almost stumbled over. A notation by the registered nurse in the hospital record stated that Lillian Eden "Says that `a hour ago' she fell off footstool on way to bathroom. `I must have broken my hip.' Right hip is painful but can be moved. Dr. Peake notified." It was later determined that Lillian Eden had sustained an impacted fracture of the left femur. Subsequently, in the summer of 1965, it was ascertained that asceptic necrosis had developed in the femoral head. She underwent surgery on November 15, 1965, which removed the top of the femur and replaced it with a metal prosthesis. There is no doubt that Lillian Eden sustained serious injuries in the fall.
The plaintiffs have appealed from the judgments that followed the direction of the verdict.
We conclude that the trial judge properly directed the verdict. The appellants, relying principally upon this court's decision in Zillmer v. Miglautsch (1967), 35 Wis.2d 691, 698, 699, 151 N.W.2d 741, correctly stated the circumstances under which a trial judge should direct a verdict:
"A case should be taken from the jury and a verdict directed against a party:
"`. . . only when the evidence gives rise to no dispute as to the material issues or only when the evidence is so clear and convincing as reasonably to permit unbiased and impartial minds to come to but one conclusion.' [cases cited] . . .
"In determining whether or not the trial court was in error in failing to direct the verdict, this court must take that view of the evidence which is most favorable to the party . . . against whom the verdict was sought to be directed. . . . If there is any evidence other than mere conjecture or incredible evidence to support a contrary verdict, the case must go to the jury. . . . [case cited]."
The plaintiffs argue that an issue of fact for the jury was raised as a result of the disputed testimony in regard to whether there was a footstool at the side of Lillian Eden's bed. Although the hospital record showed that Lillian Eden stated shortly after the accident that she had slipped from the footstool, at trial she was unequivocal that there was no footstool in her room. Her husband testified that he could not state whether there was a footstool. The testimony of the hospital personnel tended to indicate that there was a footstool in the room. No doubt a factual issue was raised in this respect. The trial judge in his opinion on motions after verdict stated:
"There was serious dispute between the parties as to whether or not Mrs. Eden's room was provided with a footstool, but the court feels this is not crucial to the decision here, and that the failure of the hospital to provide, if it did so fail under the circumstances, was not negligence and certainly was not causal."
Thus, the trial judge in his opinion pointed out arguendo that, even if the plaintiffs' position was correct and there was no footstool in the room, nevertheless, as a matter of law under these circumstances, the failure to provide a footstool was not negligence. In short, he concluded that the presence or absence of a footstool was immaterial under the facts and circumstances of this case. Not every disputed fact in a lawsuit must be resolved by a jury. Only the facts that are material and, if proved one way or the other, are determinative or tend to be determinative of the issue need be submitted to the jury. We repeat what we stated in Miglautsch, supra:
"A case should be taken from the jury and a verdict directed against a party . . . only when the evidence gives rise to no dispute as to the material issues . . . ." (Emphasis supplied.)
We conclude that the trial judge correctly concluded that whether or not Lillian Eden's room was provided with a footstool was not "crucial." It was a dispute about an immaterial fact.
The duty of care owed a patient by a hospital was discussed by this court in two recent cases. Schuster v. St. Vincent Hospital (1969), 45 Wis.2d 135, 172 N.W.2d 421; Cramer v. Theda Clark Memorial Hospital (1969), 45 Wis.2d 147, 172 N.W.2d 427. We pointed out in Schuster that the duty was one of ordinary care under the circumstances. In Cramer we explicated the standard of ordinary care required of a hospital in respect to its duty toward its patients. We said at page 149:
"The general rule is that a hospital must in the care of its patients exercise such ordinary care and attention for their safety as their mental and physical condition, known or should have been known, may require."
The facts are undisputed that Lillian Eden was not a sick woman. She could have returned home, and she remained in the hospital only for the purpose of prescribing an optimum diet. There are no facts of record to indicate that the hospital or its agents, acting as an ordinarily prudent person, ought reasonably to have foreseen that the failure to provide a footstool would expose a patient in the circumstances of Lillian Eden to an unreasonable risk of harm. She had not complained about the absence of a footstool. She got out of the bed on numerous occasions without needing it, and she stated that she could get into bed without any difficulty.
Under these circumstances it was clear as a matter of law that an ordinarily prudent person could not reasonably foresee that Lillian Eden would be exposed to an unreasonable risk of harm because there was no footstool. Her status in the hospital at the time the injury occurred was not that of a patient receiving treatment or medication which in any way impaired her ability to take care of herself or which imposed any special duty on the hospital. It is apparent that the trial judge properly ruled that under these circumstances the argued absence of a footstool was not material to determining the question of negligence.
The plaintiffs' counsel argues on this appeal that consideration should be given to special circumstances that arose when, as he states in his brief:
"Before retiring on the evening before the accident, she was given sedatives and pills which had a cathartic effect. The sedatives made her sleep soundly until the early morning hours, when she suddenly awoke from her sedative produced sleep, with a strong urge to go to the bathroom. While attempting to remove herself from the bed, she fell forward, striking the floor in such a manner as to fracture her left femoral hip."
Were these facts true, there would be arguable merit to the plaintiffs' claim, but they are unsupported by the evidence. The administration of the pills and sedative referred to took place not on the evening before the accident but a day earlier, thirty hours prior to the accident. We are concerned that counsel has predicated his argument on facts not appearing of record and which would tend to mislead the court. The accident did not take place at a time when it was reasonably foreseeable that any special precautions would have been required in the exercise of ordinary care following the administration of the medicines. It should also be pointed out again that Lillian Eden was not administered a cathartic.
While the bed was undisputably at a height of 36 inches, there was no reason to believe, under the circumstances, that Lillian Eden was reasonably likely to fall from the bed and sustain injury. She got in and out of bed on the way to the bathroom several times without any manifested difficulty. No conduct of hers could reasonably have led the hospital to anticipate that she would have any difficulty whatsoever in getting out of bed.
Neither was the absence of bedrails evidence of negligence. We stated in Carson v. Beloit (1966), 32 Wis.2d 282, 288, 145 N.W.2d 112:
"Bedrails are used to keep patients from falling out of bed. The ones used on Carson's bed would not have prevented him from getting out of bed. This is not a case of a patient who falls out of bed but one who deliberately gets out of bed."
In concluding that the verdict was properly directed against the plaintiffs, we have considered the evidence most favorably from the viewpoint of the plaintiffs, the parties ruled against. Jacobson v. Greyhound Corp. (1965), 29 Wis.2d 55, 138 N.W.2d 133. We are satisfied from a perusal of the trial judge's opinion that he did so also.
By the Court. — Judgments affirmed.