Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A Michigan appellate court held that a plaintiff may proceed with her claim against a hospital and others for positional injuries she allegedly suffered during surgery.

Laura Francke underwent a double mastectomy with reconstruction after a breast cancer diagnosis. She required numerous revision surgeries and was diagnosed as having rotator cuff and brachial plexus injuries after one of the procedures. Francke sued the hospital and several treating health care providers and entities, alleging that the defendants had breached the standard of care by positioning her improperly and failing to properly pad or protect her arm from a pressure or positional injury. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defense, concluding that the plaintiff’s expert testimony amounted to assumptions not consistent with established facts.

Reversing, the appellate court found that the plaintiff’s expert testimony established genuine issues of material fact on breach and causation. The plaintiff’s expert opined that the defendants had failed to monitor and document the plaintiff’s positioning during surgery, the court said, noting that part of the breach claim centered on the meaning of the word “supine.” The parties differ about what “supine” indicates, and the plaintiff’s medical chart included the term as a position description and nothing more specific, including the position of the plaintiff’s arms.

The court noted that a jury must decide the weight afforded to expert testimony, acknowledging the plaintiff expert’s opinion that the term “supine” was too vague to satisfy the defendants’ duty to properly monitor the plaintiff’s position during surgery. Consequently, the court concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to an inference of negligence and that her claims may proceed.

Citation: Francke v. Botsford Gen. Hosp., 2024 WL 4246175 (Mich. Ct. App. Sept. 19, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Eileen Kroll and Christopher Frayer, both of Livonia, Mich.; and Beth Wittmann and Mark Granzotto, both of Detroit.