The court's holding and decision will be displayed here.

This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Plogger, accompanied by his wife, Mary Plogger, went to the Hospital emergency room. Plogger sought help because he experienced continuous pain on the right side of his abdomen. D, the emergency room physician, evaluated Plogger, ordered certain laboratory tests, and performed an examination on him. Plogger informed D that he 'just didn't feel well; that he hadn't felt well for a while.' Plogger had seen his family physician a few days earlier, and his physician informed Plogger that he had a viral illness. Plogger also informed an emergency room nurse that he 'had right abdominal soreness.' Even though Plogger had experienced abdominal pains for several months before he went to the Hospital on April 2, 1997, he had not mentioned this pain to his physician, Dr. Hamilton. D concluded that Plogger should be admitted because he had blood in his stool and his white blood count was elevated. D believed that 'an inflammatory process or infection' was occurring in Plogger's body. D felt that a surgeon should evaluate Plogger, and she made a telephone call to Dr. Irons, the hospital's 'on call' surgeon, seeking such evaluation. D informed Dr. Irons that Plogger 'had blood in his stool' and that he 'had a [gastrointestinal] bleed with an intermittent bowel obstruction probably being caused by a mass in his colon.' D believed that Plogger needed surgical intervention to resolve the bleeding. Dr. Irons told D that he did not believe that Plogger had 'an acute surgical abdomen' and recommended that D refer Plogger to Dr. Hamilton. D placed a telephone call to Dr. Hamilton. The emergency room nurses approached D and informed her that Mr. and Mrs. Plogger were about to leave the hospital. The Ploggers had previously considered leaving the hospital before D had spoken with Dr. Irons. D asked them to wait. D talked to Dr. Hamilton, and Dr. Hamilton said, I guess if he doesn't want to stay, I will just see him tomorrow. D said, I don't think you'll see him tomorrow, they're going to be in Roanoke. And he said, fine, have him call the office tomorrow, and I'll see him Monday. The Ploggers left the hospital's emergency room. D tried to persuade him to remain. However, he refused to do so. Generally, a patient who leaves a hospital against the advice of the physician is asked to sign a document described as an 'against medical advice form.' Plogger did not sign this form, nor was he asked to. Plogger returned three days later on April 5, 1997, with complaints of a sore throat. D evaluated his abdomen, examined his throat, and diagnosed his throat condition as either oral candidiasis or oral thrush, conditions unrelated to his abdominal complaints. Even though the discharge instructions that Plogger received during his emergency room visit on April 2, 1997, directed him to meet with Dr. Hamilton on April 4, Plogger did not do so. D reminded Plogger that he absolutely needed to follow up with his doctor on Monday [April 7] regarding [his] abdomen, and to come back if it was worse at all. On April 7, Plogger returned to the emergency room by ambulance. He was acutely short of breath, his skin was very pale, his lips were blue, and he was sweating. He was admitted to the hospital, where he died the following day. P sued Ds. P presented evidence that D failed to comply with the applicable standard of care imposed upon a reasonably prudent emergency room physician when she treated Plogger on April 2, 5, and 7, 1997, and that her acts and omissions were proximate causes of his death. D presented expert witness testimony that she complied with the standard of care and that Plogger's death was not caused by any act or omission by her. The circuit court instructed the jury, over P's objection, on contributory negligence. D got the verdict, and P appealed. P contends that the circuit court erred in giving this jury instruction because D failed to present sufficient evidence from which the jury could conclude that D was guilty of contributory negligence. The alleged act of contributory negligence related to D's contention that Plogger left the emergency room against her advice.

The legal issues presented in this case will be displayed here.

The applicable rule of law for this case will be displayed here.

Legal analysis from Dean's Law Dictionary will be displayed here.