Admissibility and effects of videotapes of medical procedures in litigation

Journal of Legal Medicine

Volumn 22, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 401-429

  Marcus, Robert P ^a  

^a SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CONFIDENTIALITY; EXPERT WITNESS; HEALTH CARE; HUMAN; LAW SUIT; MALPRACTICE; MEDICAL EXAMINATION; MEDICAL RECORD; NOTE; PATIENT RIGHT; PRIVACY; SURGICAL TECHNIQUE; VIDEORECORDING;

CONFIDENTIALITY; EXPERT TESTIMONY; HUMANS; INFORMED CONSENT; MALPRACTICE; PHYSICAL EXAMINATION; SURGICAL PROCEDURES, OPERATIVE; UNITED STATES; VIDEOTAPE RECORDING;

EID: 0034813881     PISSN: 01947648     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01947640152596452     Document Type: Note

References (314)

1. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Patient Rights and Informed Consent When Videotaping or Filming (Updated 9/26/00), at http://www.jcaho.org/standard/clarif/ri_video.html.
2. Id. See also Interagency Committee for Medical Records, Videotaped Documentation of Surgical Procedures and Other Episodes of Care, Dec. 9, 1996, available in WL 698821.
3. J. Douglas Peters & Bernard J. Wilkes, III, Videotaping of Surgery for Use as Demonstrative Evidence in Medical Malpractice Litigation, 16 DUQ, L. REV. 359, 362 (1977-1978).
4. People v. Heading, 197 N.W.2d 325 (Mich. App. 1972).
5. FED. R. EVID. 1001 (Historical Note).
6. 2 KENNETH S. BROUN ET AL., MCCORMICK ON EVIDENCE § 214, at 3, 14 (John William Strong ed., 4th ed. 1992).
7. 44 AM. JUR. 2D Trials § 171, at 265 (1992).
8. Id.
9. Martin B. Adams, Malpractice Exhibits Can Persuade: Demonstrative Evidence Used in Medical Malpractice Trials Can Be Powerful, but Its Proponents Should Proceed with Care, NAT'L L. J., June 15, 1998, at B7.
10. JORDAN S. GRUBER, ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE 42 (1995).
11. Id. at 43 n.14.
12. Id. at 257-58.
13. Id. at 258.
14. See Trials, supra note 7, § 171, at 288.
15. GRUBER, supra note 10, at 76.
16. See Trials, supra note 7, § 171, at 189.
17. CHRISTOPHER B. MUELLER & LAIRD C. KIRKPATRICK, EVIDENCE 1138 (2nd ed. 1999).
18. United States v. Henderson, 489 F.2d 802, 806 (5th Cir. 1973).
19. 39 AM. JUR. 2D Trials § 261, at 271 (1989).
20. Id. at 277.
21. GRUBER, supra note 10, at 92.
22. Id. at 92-93.
23. 544 N.Y.S.2d 323 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989).
24. Id. at 324.
25. Id.
26. Id. at 326-27.
27. Id.
28. Id. at 326.
29. 631 N.E.2d 1186 (Ill. App. 1994).
30. Id. at 1205.
31. Id. at 1192.
32. Id. at 1205.
33. "Emboli. I. A plug, composed of a detached thrombus or vegetation, mass of bacteria, or other foreign body, occluding a vessel." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 558 (1995).
34. "A large artery of the elastic type which is the main trunk of the systemic arterial system, arising from the base of the left ventricle and ending at the left side of the body of the fourth lumbar vertebra by dividing to form the right and left common iliac arteries." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 110 (1995).
35. Glassman, 631 N.E.2d at 1205.
36. Id.
37. Id.
38. Id.
39. Id.
40. Id.
41. 960 S.W.2d 527 (Mo. App. 1998).
42. Tubal ligation procedure means an "interruption of the continuity of the oviducts by cutting, or by a plastic or metal device to prevent future conception." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 976 (1995).
43. Shoemaker, 960 S.W.2d at 529.
44. Id.
45. Id. at 530.
46. Id. at 529-30.
47. 28 U.S.C § 403 (1994).
48. 965 S.W.2d 656 (Tex. App. 1998).
49. Price Ainsworth, The Learned Intermediary Doctrine, Videotape Evidence in Texas Cases, 4 MED. LEGAL ASPECTS BREAST IMPLANTS 1, May 1996, at 2.
50. Bean, 965 S.W.2d at 659.
51. Id.
52. Id. at 659-60.
53. Id. at 659 (citing Exxon Corp. v. Shuttlesworth, 800 S.W.2d 902, 907 (Tex. App. 1990)).
54. 887 S.W.2d 635 (Mo. App. 1994).
55. Id. at 636.
56. Id.
57. Id. at 636-37.
58. Arthroscopic procedure means an "[e]ndoscopic examination of the interior of a joint." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 936 (1995).
59. 811 S.W.2d 417 (Mo. App. 1991).
60. Id. at 417.
61. Id. at 418.
62. "[A]rises from the posterior cord of the brachial plexus; . . . . it divides into its two terminal branches, the superficial branch and the deep branch; it supplies muscular and cutaneous branches to the posterior compartments of the arm and forearm. PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1192 (1995).
63. Spain, 811 S.W.2d at 419.
64. Id. at 424.
65. Id.
66. Id. (quoting McPherson Redev. Corp. v. Watkins, 782 S.W.2d 690, 692 (Mo. App. 1989)).
67. 1992 WL 438495, at * 1 (Mar. 1992).
68. Id.
69. Cranial nerves are "those nerves that emerge from, or enter, the cranium or skull in contrast to the spinal nerves, which emerge from the spine or vertebral column." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1187 (1995).
70. Tinnitus is the "sensation of sound in one or both ears usually associated with disease in the middle ear, the inner ear, or the central auditory apparatus." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1816 (1995).
71. Hoffman, 1992 WL 438495, at * 1.
72. See PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1186 (1995) (chart).
73. Hoffman, 1992 WL 438495, at * 1.
74. Id.
75. Id.
76. Id.
77. 96 F.R.D. 658 (W.D. Ark. 1983).
78. Id. at 669.
79. Id.
80. Id.
81. See generally Holland v. United States, 182 F.R.D. 493 (D.S.C. 1998); Ramirez v. MacAdam, 16 Cal. Rptr. 2d 911 (Cal. App. 1993); Lamendola v. Slocum, 538 N.Y.S.2d 116 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989).
82. 182 F.R.D. 493 (D.S.C. 1998)
83. Rule 35 provides: "When the mental or physical condition . . . of a party . . . is in controversy . . . the court in which the action is pending may order the party to submit to a physical or mental examination." FED. R. CIV. P. 35
84. Holland, 182 F.R.D. at 493.
85. Id. at 494.
86. Id.
87. Id. at 495.
88. Id.
89. Id.
90. Id.
91. Id. at 496.
92. Id.
93. Id.
94. 538 N.Y.S.2d 116 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989).
95. Id. at 117.
96. Id.
97. Id.
98. Id.
99. Id. at 118.
100. 509 N.Y.S.2d 754 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1986).
101. Id.
102. " An imprecise term for a state of drowsiness and inaction, in which more than ordinary stimulation may be required to evoke a response, and the response may be delayed or incomplete." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1594 (1995).
103. Mosel, 509 N.Y.S.2d at 755.
104. Id.
105. Id.
106. Id. at 756.
107. Id.
108. Id.
109. Id.
110. Id. at 757.
111. Id.
112. Id. at 756. See also Holland, 182 F.R.D. at 493; Lamendola, 538 N.Y.S.2d at 117.
113. See Holland, 182 F.R.D. at 493; Lamendola, 538 N.Y.S.2d at 117.
114. Mosel, 509 N.Y.S.2d at 757.
115. ROBERT D. MILLER, PROBLEMS IN HOSPITAL LAW 253 (6th ed. 1990).
116. Id. at 254.
117. Id.
118. See Joint Commission, supra note 1.
119. Id.
120. Id.
121. Id.
122. Id.
123. Id.
124. 492 A.2d 580 (D.C. Cir. 1985)
125. Id.
126. Id. at 588.
127. Id.
128. JAMES T. ZIEGENFUSS, PATIENTS' RIGHTS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 60 (1983).
129. Id. at 61.
130. See Peters & Wilkes, III, supra note 3, at 362.
131. MARGARET C. JASPER, HOSPITAL LIABILITY LAW 17 (1999).
132. Interagency Committee, supra note 2.
133. Id.
134. Id.
135. Id.
136. Id.
137. Id.
138. MILLER, supra note 115, at 292.
139. Id.
140. DAVID A. ELDER, THE LAW OF PRIVACY 352-53 (1991).
141. CARLETON B. CHAPMAN, PHYSICIANS, LAW, AND ETHICS 22 (1984).
142. Alan B. Vickery, Breach of Confidence: An Emerging Tort, 82 COLUM. L. REV. 1426, 1428-29 (1982).
143. MILLER, supra note 115, at 292.
144. ELDER, supra note 140, at 355.
145. Id. at 356.
146. MILLER, supra note 115, at 287.
147. JASPER, supra note 131, at 38.
148. ARTHUR F. SOUTHWICK, THE LAW OF HOSPITAL AND HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION 473 (1988). See also Interagency Committee, supra note 2.
149. ARIZ. Rev. STAT. ANN. § 12-2291 (West 1995).
150. MILLER, supra note 115, at 291.
151. Id.
152. Id. at 294.
153. SOUTHWICK, supra note 148, at 481.
154. MILLER, supra note 115, at 291.
155. 506 N.Y.S.2d 255 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1986).
156. Id. at 256.
157. Id. at 257.
158. Id.
159. MILTON D. HEIFETZ, ETHICS IN MEDICINE 64 (1996).
160. Id.
161. Interagency Committee, supra note 2.
162. Id.
163. SOUTHWICK, supra note 148, at 525.
164. Id. at 526.
165. Id.
166. Id.
167. 422 S.E.2d 315 (Ga. App. 1992).
168. Id. at 315-16.
169. Id. at 315.
170. Id.
171. Id.
172. Id. at 316 (citing Cotton v. John W. Eshelman & Sons. Inc., 223 S.E.2d 757 (Ga. App. 1976)).
173. SOUTHWICK, supra note 148, at 527.
174. Id.
175. See generally ALA. CODE § 6-5-333 (1993); ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN. § 36-445.01 (1993); FLA. STAT. ANN. § 395.0193 (West 1998); 735 ILL. COMP. STAT. 5/8-2101 (West 1992); TENN. CODE ANN. § 63-6-219 (1997).
176. Id.
177. Id.
178. Jenkins v. Wu, 468 N.E.2d 1162, 1168 (Ill. 1984).
179. See JOHNATHAN P. TOMES, MEDICAL STAFF PRIVILEGES AND PEER REVIEW 132 (1994).
180. Id.
181. Jenkins, 468 N.E.2d at 1168.
182. 42 U.S.C. § 11137 (1995).
183. TOMES, supra note 179, at 132.
184. Id.
185. Id. at 133.
186. Jenkins, 468 N.E.2d at 1168.
187. TOMES, supra note 179, at 131.
188. ALA. CODE § 6-5-333 (1993).
189. ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 36-445.01 (1993).
190. FLA. STAT. ANN. § 395.0193 (West 1.998).
191. 735 ILL. COMP. STAT. 5/8-2101 (West 1992).
192. TENN. CODE ANN. § 63-6-219 (1997).
193. See supra note 175.
194. Id.
195. ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 12-2291 (West Supp. 2000).
196. Id.
197. ALA. CODE § 6-5-333 (1993).
198. Id.
199. Id. § 12-21-5.
200. Id.
201. FLA. STAT. ANN. § 395.0193 (West 1998); TENN. CODE ANN. § 63-6-219 (1997).
202. FLA. STAT. ANN. § 395.0193 (West 1998).
203. Id. § 395.3015.
204. Id. § 456.057 (West Supp. 2001).
205. Id.
206. TENN. CODE ANN. § 63-6-219 (1997).
207. 735 ILL. COMP. STAT. 5/8-2101 (West 2000).
208. Id.
209. Id.
210. 210 ILL. COMP. STAT. 85/6.17 (West 2000).
211. 704 N.E.2d 708 (Ill. App. 1998).
212. Id.
213. Id. at 710.
214. Id.
215. 696 N.E.2d 707 (Ill. App. 1998).
216. Id. at 708.
217. Roach v. Springfield Clinic, 623 N.E.2d 246, 251 (Ill. 1993).
218. Id.
219. Id.
220. Jenkins, 468 N.E.2d 1162, 1168 (Ill. 1984).
221. MILLER, supra note 115, at 308.
222. DEAN M. HARRIS, HEALTHCARE LAW AND ETHICS 194 (1999).
223. HEIFETZ, supra note 159, at 53-54.
224. Id.
225. See Peters, supra note 3, at 362.
226. Id.
227. Adami, 704 N.E.2d at 708.
228. Id. at 709.
229. Id. at 710.
230. Id. at 711.
231. Id.
232. Id.
233. Id.
234. Id.
235. A ligament in the knee "that extends from the anterior intercondylar area of the tibia to the posterior part of the medial surface of the lateral condyle of the femur." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 965 (1995).
236. N.K. v. Dr. C., 1996 WL 912412 at * 1.
237. Id.
238. Id.
239. Id.
240. Id.
241. Id.
242. John Tierney, New Cameras Allow Doctors to Make Videos of Surgeries, J. REC., July 3, 1991, available at 1991 WL 5352715.
243. Id.
244. Id.
245. "An endoscope for examining the peritoneal cavity." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 936 (1995). In this case, the laparoscope was used in the removal of the patient's gall bladder.
246. See Tierney, supra note 242.
247. Id.
248. Id.
249. Id.
250. Id.
251. See id.
252. See JASPER, supra note 131, at 13.
253. See 1 BROUN ET AL., supra note 6, § 13.
254. Id.
255. FED. R. EVID. 702.
256. 1 BROUN ET AL., supra note 6, § 15.
257. FED. R. EVID. 703.
258. Id.
259. Id.
260. Typical jury instructions are: The plaintiff in this action has the burden of proving by the greater weight of the evidence: (1) The standard of care applicable, at the time of the incident in question; and (2) That the defendant failed to follow the standard of care and was thereby negligent: and (3) That the acts or omissions by the defendant were what the law regards as the proximate cause of injury to the plaintiff. If plaintiff fails to prove any one of these requirements, plaintiff may not recover. RONALD W. EADES, JURY INSTRUCTIONS ON MEDICAL ISSUES 101 (5th ed. 1997).
261. Id.
262. 688 A.2d 1381 (D.C. 1997).
263. James J. McCabe et al., Causation Evidence Required to Support Negligence Claim Over Ruptured Brain AVM, 14 MED. MALPRAC. L. & STRAT. 6 (Mar. 1997).
264. Neil Vidmar, Are Juries Competent to Decide Liability in Tort Cases Involving Scientific/Medical Issues? Some Data from Medical Malpractice, 43 EMORY L.J. 885, 896 (1994).
265. Id. at 902-03.
266. NEIL VIDMAR, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE AND THE AMERICAN JURY 123 (1995).
267. Id. at 124.
268. Glusaskas, 544 N.Y.S.2d at 323.
269. Id.
270. See JASPER, supra note 131, at 13.
271. Alexander v. Grossenbacher, 1998 WL 933304 at * 2.
272. Id.
273. "[A]bbreviation for temporomandibular joint dysfunction," which is a dysfunction "relating to the temporal bone and the mandible; denoting the joint of the lower jaw." PDR MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1817, 1769 (1995).
274. Alexander, 1998 WL 933304 at * 2.
275. Id.
276. Id.
277. See VIDMAR, supra note 266, at 885.
278. Id. at 898.
279. 960 S.W.2d 527 (Mo. App. 1998).
280. Id. at 529-30.
281. FED. R. EVID. 403.
282. 577 A.2d 876 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1990).
283. Id.
284. Id.
285. Id.
286. Id. at 877.
287. Id.
288. Id.
289. Id.
290. Id.
291. Id. at 880.
292. Id.
293. 751 So. 2d 889 (La. App. 1999).
294. Id.
295. Id. at 893-94.
296. Id. at 894.
297. Id. at 909.
298. Id.
299. Id.
300. Traver, 577 A.2d at 876; Hooker, 751 So. 2d at 889.
301. 476 N.W.2d 28 (Iowa 1991).
302. Id. at 33.
303. Id.
304. Id.
305. Id.
306. Id.
307. Bean, 965 S.W.2d at 656. See infra notes 48-52 and accompanying text.
308. Bean, 965 S.W.2d at 658.
309. Id.
310. Id.
311. Linda S. Crawford, A Clear Look at Jury Confusion, 14 MED. MALPRAC, L. & STRAT. 5 (Oct. 1997).
312. Id.
313. Id.
314. Id.