Sacramento Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this birth injury/personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

Plaintiffs’ citation of Molien v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, (1980) 27 Cal.3d 916, is confusing at best. Molien involved a husband's claim of emotional distress based on the harm that occurred to him and his marriage. Specifically, the physician misdiagnosed Mr. Molien's wife with syphilis, leading her to believe he had had an extramarital affair. This caused significant marital problems as well as causing Mr. Molien to be medically tested and to take medication. As the Supreme Court later held in Burgess, to the extent Molien stands for the proposition that it introduced a new method for determining the existence of a duty, as limited by foreseeability, it should not be relied upon and its discussion of duty is limited to its facts. Burgess, at 1074. However, Burgess did reaffirm the principles derived from Molien as follows:

(1) damages for negligently inflicted emotional distress may be recovered in the absence of physical injury or impact, and (2) a cause of action to recover damages for negligently inflicted emotional distress will lie, notwithstanding the criteria imposed upon recovery by bystanders, in cases where a duty arising from a preexisting relationship is negligently breached. (Burgess at 1074.) Again, no duty arose between these moving parties and Mr. Lee. Therefore, Timothy Lee cannot sustain a claim for NIED, based on the direct victim theory.

Continue reading " Sacramento Child's Parents Suffer Severe Emotional Distress Due To Negligent Birth Injuries, Part 4 of 4 " »

The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this birth injury/personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

Plaintiffs' opposition also relies on several cases involving a mother's claim for NIED, which differ from the motion before the court. First, plaintiffs' rely on Sesma v. M. Cuento, M.D., (1982) 129 Cal.App.3d 108. According to plaintiffs' brief, Sesma involved a woman in labor who brought a cause of action for NIED based on a stillbirth. The motion at bar does not involve a mother's claim for NIED. Rather, it involves Mr. Lee's claim for NIED, which must be based on the bystander theory. Plaintiffs raise the issue of foreseeability, but, as put forth in moving parties' motion, have alleged no facts that would support this theory. Rather, they rely on their strategy of intertwining the mother's and father's claims of NIED. Again, Johnson v. Superior Court, (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 1002, involved a mother's claim for NIED caused by a medically caused stillbirth.

Plaintiffs argue that Marlene F. v. Affiliated Psychiatric Medical Clinic Inc., (1989) 48 Cal.3d 583, applies. Marlene F., as stated in plaintiffs' opposition, involved two mothers and their sons who sought therapy. Plaintiffs state it best: the court held that a mother of a minor child could state a claim for NIED against the psychotherapist who consulted to treat both the mother and son and then sexually molested the son.

Continue reading " Sacramento Child Suffers Birth Injuries Due Medical Neglect, Part 3 of 4 " »

The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this birth injury/personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

Direct Victim Analysis Is Inapplicable to Plaintiff Timothy Lee.

Plaintiffs argue that Timothy Lee is a "direct victim," thereby entitling him to damages based upon a cause of action for NIED. Plaintiffs inappropriately rely on Burgess v. Superior Court, (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1064. In Burgess, the Supreme Court held that a mother could claim emotional distress damages as a direct victim of medical negligence which injured her baby during the birthing process. The Court's rationale was based on the physician-patient relationship that gave rise to a duty owed to the mother which encompassed medical care rendered to both her and her fetus. As the Court stated:

It is in light of both these physical and emotional realities (the court was referring to the altruistic physical and emotional connection between a woman and her fetus. (Burgess at 1076)) that the obstetrician and the pregnant woman enter into a physician-patient relationship. It cannot be gainsaid that both parties understand that the physician owes a duty to the pregnant woman with respect to the medical treatment provided to her fetus. Any negligence during delivery which causes injury to the fetus and resultant emotional anguish to the mother, therefore, breaches a duty owed directly to the mother. Id. at 1076.

Continue reading " Mother And Father Witness Child's Birth Injury At Sacramento Hospital, Part 2 of 4 " »

The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this birth injury/personal injury case and its proceedings.)

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

DEFENDANTS’ REPLY TO PLAINTIFFS’ OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES

Attorneys for Defendants, Frank White, M.D., Max Green, M.D., and XYZ MEDICAL GROUP.

MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES

Introduction and Summary of Plaintiffs' Reply

Plaintiffs' opposition is a confusing quagmire that improperly attempts to interweave Mr. and Ms. Lee's claims regarding their son's birth injuries. Mindy Lee's claim for Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress ( NIED ) is not the subject of moving parties' motion. Plaintiffs' opposition confuses the relevant case law as delineated by the Supreme Court and misapplies the facts of the case at bar.

The Moving Parties Do Not Dispute Timothy Lee's Right to Allege a Cause of Action for NIED.

Continue reading " Sacramento Family Sues Hospital For Birth Injuries, Part 1 of 4 " »