Powell v. Mullins

This is an appeal by the plaintiff, Christine Powell, from a judgment in favor of the defendant, Julius Mullins, M.D., based upon a directed verdict entered at the close of the plaintiff's evidence in a medical malpractice case. It is undisputed that the defendant left an 18-inch-square surgical lap sponge inside the plaintiff when closing the abdominal incision necessary for the cesarean delivery of the plaintiff's third child. The trial court, believing the case to be controlled by Gilbert v. Campbell, 440 So.2d 1048 (Ala. 1983), granted the defendant's motion for directed verdict because…