No. 28084 (Oct. 31, 2008)
Opinion [pdf]
OPINION OF THE COURT BY RECKTENWALD, C.J.
Daphne E. Barbee (Daphne), Finn T. Barbee (Finn), and Rustam A. Barbee (Rustam) (collectively, Plaintiffs) filed a complaint against William Yarbrough, M.D., (Dr. Yarbrough) and The Queen's Medical Center (Queen's) (collectively, Defendants). Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants were negligent in treating their father, Lloyd Barbee (Mr. Barbee), for a kidney tumor. Dr. Yarbrough performed a laparoscopic nephrectomy at Queen's on July 24, 2001, during which Mr. Barbee's left kidney was removed. Subsequent to the removal of his kidney, Mr. Barbee sustained internal bleeding. Dr. Yarbrough performed a second surgery on the evening of July 24th to locate the source of and stop the bleeding. Mr. Barbee's condition deteriorated following the two surgeries, and he died 17 months later, on December 29, 2002.
A jury returned a special verdict against Queen's and Dr. Yarbrough and awarded $365,000 to each of the three Plaintiffs. However, the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (circuit court) granted Queen's and Dr. Yarbrough's renewed motions for judgment as a matter of law and conditionally granted Dr. Yarbrough's motion, in the alternative, for a new trial. Plaintiffs appeal, arguing that "the trial court erred in granting judgement notwithstanding the jury verdict," and "in limiting the testimony" of two of their witnesses, Dr. Peter Bretan (Dr. Bretan) and Dr. Sean Keane (Dr. Keane). For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. [footnote omitted]
