HARRISBURG — The Superior Court has found that a lower court abused its discretion when it refused to allow a physician to testify regarding the standard of care.
"To summarize, we agree with Appellant that the trial court abused its discretion in disallowing Dr. Hornyak to offer testimony regarding the standard of care of anesthesiologist Dr. Soumakieh without developing a record through voir dire," Judge Victor P. Stabile wrote in the April 27 decision.
Stabile authored the decision in which judges Maria McLaughlin and John L. Musmanno joined.
While the court reversed the claims involving Dr. Mohamed F. Soumekieh and Bornemann Health Corporation, it affirmed the judgment against Dr. Robert N. Greenberg and St. Joseph Medical Center.
The case involved Rosalee Marie Shober, who went to the emergency room of the hospital on June 28, 2008, with abdominal pain. She was found to have an abdominal mass and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to the decision.
Greenberg implanted an intravenous catheter under Shober's skin on July 3, 2008. There was an issue at first, but he eventually was able to resolve it and finish the procedure. However, when the nurse was removing the surgical drapes, she noticed Shober's eyes were not dilating properly and she called Soumekieh to evaluate.
Soumekieh then called for Greenberg to return, and a cardiothoracic surgeon was called to perform a transesophageal echocardiogram and a pericardial window to drain fluid from the heart. After the surgeon performed the procedures, Shober was transferred to the intensive care unit, where she died the following day from respiratory failure due to anoxic brain injury.
R. Brian Shober then filed the lawsuit against the doctors, the hospital and the anesthesiologist's business, alleging that Greenberg pierced Rosalee Shober's heart with the wire used to place a central venous catheter. He claimed Soumekieh failed to diagnose the issue in a timely manner.
The case went to trial on June 11, 2018. After the trial, Brian Shober sought a new trial and then appealed to the Superior Court.
The Superior Court remanded the case to the trial court for a new trial limited to claims against Soumakieh and Bornemann, his employer.
Pennsylvania Superior Court case number: 1887 MDA 2018