Stone v. Alexander

Before GLICKMAN, KRAMER and THOMPSON, Associate Judges.

In this malpractice case, Jacqueline and Ronald Stone sued Dr. E. Pendleton Alexander and Medical Faculty Associates (“MFA”) in connection with the death of their mother, Irma Stone, after a double heart valve replacement operation performed by Dr. Alexander. A jury returned a verdict for appellee. The issues on appeal are whether the trial court properly concluded that a conversation between Dr. David Salter, an assisting surgeon, and his colleagues about Dr. Salter’s concerns with respect to Dr. Alexander’s performance during Ms. Stone’s surgery was privileged,*fn1 and whether an “amended autopsy report” was properly admitted into evidence.*fn2 We hold that even if the trial court abused its discretion by excluding testimony regarding a particular conversation, appellants suffered no prejudice because the court allowed testimony about every other conversation that Dr. Salter had with his colleagues, which allowed the jury to properly consider the matter. We also find no merit to appellants’ remaining assertions and thus affirm.