Case Digest (G.R. No. 189102)
Facts:
Mercury Drug Corporation and Aurmela Ganzon v. Raul De Leon, G.R. No. 165622, October 17, 2008, Supreme Court Third Division, Reyes, J., writing for the Court.Respondent Raul T. De Leon, then presiding judge of RTC Branch 258 in Paranaque, experienced redness and difficulty reading in his left eye on October 17, 1999. After consulting a friend who was a physician, Dr. Charles Milla, he was given a prescription for Cortisporin Ophthalmic and Ceftin. The following morning De Leon went to the Betterliving, Paranaque branch of Mercury Drug Corporation and presented his prescription to Aurmela Ganzon, a pharmacist assistant; Ganzon handed him a medication which he paid for and took.
At his chambers his sheriff applied 2–3 drops to De Leon's left eye; the drops produced searing pain and did not relieve the irritation. De Leon then discovered he had been given Cortisporin Otic Solution (ear drops) instead of the ophthalmic preparation. He returned to the Mercury Drug branch; Ganzon admitted she could not fully read the prescription and her supervisor later apologized and said they lacked stock of the ophthalmic preparation. Mercury Drug's corporate president did not answer De Leon's written inquiry; two salespersons made an informal visit to his office but no adequate apology or explanation was furnished. De Leon filed a complaint for damages.
At trial the RTC found for De Leon, awarding the value of the medicine (Php 153.25), moral damages of Php100,000, exemplary damages of Php300,000, and attorney’s fees and litigation expenses. The RTC held that the proximate cause of the injury was Ganzon’s negligent exercise of discretion in dispensing without proper prescription and without fully reading it, and invoked the employer’s presumption of negligence in selection/supervision of employees.
Mercury Drug and Ganzon appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA). Respondent moved to dismiss the appeal on procedural grounds. The CA granted the motion and dismissed the appeal on July 4, 2004, for failure to include page references in the appellant’s brief as required by ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals commit reversible error or grave abuse of discretion in dismissing petitioners’ appeal for lack of page references under Section 1(f), Rule 50 of the Rules of Civil Procedure?
- Were petitioners Mercury Drug Corporation and Aurmela Ganzon liable for damages for dispensing ear drops instead of the prescribed eye drops, and were the damage awards...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)