http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/22456346.html
Court reinstates suit over blood transfusion
Expert testimony is ruled unnecessary in the malpractice case of a Jehovah's Witness.By FRANK SANTIAGO
Register Staff Writer10/09/2003
The Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated a malpractice lawsuit by a Jehovah's Witness follower against a Waterloo hospital and doctor who allegedly gave the man a blood transfusion despite warnings that it violated his religious beliefs.In separate cases, the court also struck down a portion of the grandparents' visitation rights law and determined that the front steps and hallway of an apartment house are public places.
In the transfusion case, the justices said Lester Campbell was not required to have an expert witness to establish fault or how much money might be awarded in damages. The lawsuit had been dismissed by the trial court.
Lawyers for Campbell said the case was a first in Iowa. Campbell sued Dr. Arnold Delbridge and Covenant Medical Center, where he underwent routine knee surgery and was given his own blood. Campbell said he warned hospital officials that no blood, including his own, should be put into his body.
The hospital's lawyers said Campbell's blood was saved in the event that he might change his mind or it became a medical necessity. Campbell claimed there was a communication breakdown and blamed it on hospital workers and a mix-up in patient charts.
"It continues to be a problem where a Jehovah's Witness patient says, "I don't want it," but because of oversight, carelessness or deliberate disregard of the patient, these things happen," said Donald Ridley, spokesman for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York. The organization aided Campbell in his legal fight.
"This is an assault on their dignity," Ridley added. "It's something very important to them before their God, and things like this happen despite their efforts to avoid them."
Douglas Coonrad, a Hudson lawyer who represented Campbell, praised Wednesday's ruling.
"I'm happy that people who have something happen to them have the opportunity to present their case to a jury," he said.
Coonrad said the high court has grappled for years over when expert testimony is necessary in emotional stress cases.
"I don't believe, in our jury system, you need to clog up the courts with experts," he said. "Under circumstances where things are clear enough you can trust lay persons, then they should be allowed to testify."
The court said: "The evidence concerning the lack of communication between the doctor and nurses, the possible mix-up in patient charts . . . (is) capable of being resolved by a fact finder without testimony of experts."
Meanwhile, in a Polk County case, the high court struck down yet another portion of a law that guarantees visitation rights for grandparents. It is the third time the court has declared portions of the law unconstitutional.
Records show that Arnis and Lucille Lamberts wanted regular visits with their grandchildren, who are about 7 and 4 years old, but the children's father, John Lillig, refused. The children's mother died in 1999 of complications from their youngest child's birth and Lillig remarried. The Lamberts had gone to court, saying state law assured them visitation rights.
The justices ruled Wednesday that the state should not interfere with parents' rights unless the parents were unfit.
"In all these cases, the circumstances are tragic," said Stacey Warren, the Lamberts' lawyer. "These children are the only links to their daughter. They can see their daughter in their grandchildren."
In a Johnson County case, the court ruled that the front steps and hallway of an apartment building are public places. The decision reinstates alcohol-related charges against Jennifer Booth, who was arrested at an apartment house in August 2001 with an open container of alcohol.
Wednesday's ruling said: "It is undisputed that each of her fellow tenants had the right to come and go through the front steps and common hallway of the apartment house, meaning the public 'has or is permitted access' to these areas."
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Ignored One.