NEWPORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - A surgeon who allegedly told the family of a patient to "kick my ass, I deserve it" after complications led to severe blood loss has won in court again after the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled the statement inadmissible.
Dr. Oon Leedhanachoke made that statement or something to its effect following a 205 lumpectomy allegedly led to neurological issues for Christine Smith. A wire used for a chemotherapy port placement pierced her superior vena cava and caused her to lose an alarming amount of blood
Four months later and after chemotherapy treatments, she began to experience neurological deficits and sued Leedhanachoke.
Husband Terry claimed the doctor told him to "kick my ass, I deserve it" after the surgery. Leedhanachoke moved to have this statement excluded from the 2022 trial, after which a jury ruled against the Smiths.
It was found the statement was more prejudicial than probative - a ruling affirmed by the Court of Appeals on April 12.
"Even without this statement, the jury heard how upset Dr. Leedhanachoke appeared to be after the surgery, and that the family believed he was trying to apologize to them about its outcome," Chief Judge Alison Jones wrote.
"This was sufficient for the jury to conclude that Dr. Leedhanachoke blamed himself for how the surgery turned out, and to create an inference that Dr. Leedhanachoke may have done something wrong to cause that outcome.
"Dr. Leedhanachoke's exact statement that someone should 'kick his ass,' while colorful, would not have appreciably strengthened this inference."
Lawyers for the Smiths told the jury that the doctor admitted he made a mistake and said "hit me, hit me, hit me," but the trial judge told jurors to disregard that statement.
Leedhanachoke himself testified he was "devastated" about the surgery but added he adhered to the standard of care and that the placement of the port looked normal on an x-ray.
The Court of Appeals also ruled against the Smiths' argument some jurors should have been dismissed because either they or their spouses were current or former employees of Pike Medical Center and/or current or former patients of Dr. Leedhanachoke.
But the only two they officially asked to dismiss were a secretary at PMC who sometimes handled Leedhanachoke's record and a lab technician.
"The Smiths should have brought their issues to the trial court’s attention by recording their objections in writing on their strike sheet...," Jones wrote. "However, they failed to do so, which prevents our review of their arguments."
West Virginia lawyers H. Truman Chafin, Letitia Neese Chafin, Stacey Kohari and Marvin Masters represented the Smiths. David Latherow and Dustin Haley of Williams, Hall & Latherow represented the defendant.