Sacramento Brain 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 wrongful death/brain injury case and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff Must Join All Persons Necessary for Just Adjudication

A complaint shall state the names, if known to the pleader, of any person(s) who, by their absence, may leave the defendant subject to risk of incurring multiple or inconsistent obligations. If such persons are not joined as parties, the pleader must state in the complaint why they are not joined. C.C.P. §389(a) & (c).

If any person is allied in interest with plaintiff, but refuses to join as a co-plaintiff, he or she may be sued as a defendant. In such cases, the complaint must state the reasons why such person was so joined. C.C.P. §382. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

The plaintiff clearly has at least one sibling, Paul White, who is listed as the son and next of kin of the decedent in the Coroner's report. It is unknown by defendant if the plaintiff has other siblings or if there are other persons with standing to bring suit in this wrongful death action.

In any event, the plaintiff should be ordered to identify all such persons who have standing to bring this wrongful death action. If such persons do not wish to join as plaintiffs, plaintiff Nancy White should be order to join the involuntary plaintiffs as defendants pursuant to C.C.P. §382.

Continue reading "Sacramento Physicians And Hospital Sued For Wrongful Death, Part 5 of 5" »

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 wrongful death/brain injury case and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff's Complaint is Uncertain Because the Facts Support Only a Cause of Action for Professional Negligence and Not for General Negligence

California Code of Civil Procedure §430.10 provides, in pertinent part:

The party against whom a complaint ... has been filed may object, by demurrer ... to the pleading on any one or more of the following grounds:

(e) The pleading does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.
(f) The pleading is uncertain. As used in this subdivision, uncertain includes ambiguous and unintelligible.

A demurrer may be taken to the entire complaint or to any of the causes of action stated in the complaint. Code Civ. Proc. §430.50. For the purposes of testing the sufficiency of the cause of action, the demurrer assumes all material facts alleged in the complaint to be true. Serrano v. Priest (1971) 5 Cal.3d 584, 591, cert denied, 432 U.S. 907. The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of a complaint as a matter of law and it only raises questions of law. Banerian v. O'Malley (1974) 42 Cal.App.3d 604, 611. A demurrer must be sustained if the complaint's cause of action is uncertain. Code of Civ. Proc. §§430.10(f).

Continue reading "Sacramento Physicians And Hospital Sued for Medical Negligence, Part 4 of 5" »

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 wrongful death/brain injury case and its proceedings.)

LEGAL ARGUMENTS

Plaintiff's Complaint is Barred by the Statute of Limitations.

A complaint is subject to a demurrer under Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10, subparagraph (e), if the facts alleged in the complaint and matters of which the court is entitled to take judicial notice show the action is barred by the statute of limitations. Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch v. Berwald (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 990, 995; Basin Construction Corp. v. Department of Water & Power (1988) 199 Cal.App.3d 819, 823. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is set out in Code of Civil Procedure §340.5. It provides, in pertinent part:

In an action for injury or death by a health care provider based upon such person's alleged professional negligence, the time for the commencement of action shall be three years after the date of injury or one year after the plaintiff discovers, or through use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first. C.C.P. §340.5.

The plaintiff's complaint does not specifically set forth the date of death of her mother; however, in each cause of action it is stated that the plaintiff was caused harm on September 27, 2007. The Coroner's Report states that Ms. Miller died on that date.

Continue reading "Family From Sacramento Files Action Against Hopsital For Wrongful Death, Part 3 of 5" »

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 wrongful death/brain injury case and its proceedings.)

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Plaintiff Nancy White filed a complaint on April 27, 2009, alleging wrongful death relating to the treatment and care defendant provided to her mother and decedent, Alice Miller. According to plaintiff, defendant UMC's treatment at a cardiac catheterization laboratory and the patient's subsequent ICU admission to UMC resulted in plaintiff's mother's death on September 27, 2007.

Plaintiff alleges that she is the daughter of decedent. Plaintiff does not identify other heirs.

All five causes of action are titled "General Negligence," but based upon wrongful death allegations.

COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS

Plaintiff's first cause of action alleges that UMC failed to provide the proper standard of care of surgical intervention and repair ; and that defendant failed to provide timely assistance to the medical emergency thereby not providing the proper standard of medical care for emergencies. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Plaintiff's second cause of action sets forth additional theories. It is contended that UMC is legally obligated to provide adequate service providers, "and to provide adequate surgical staff to respond to STAT requests for assistance"; and to restrict the "permitted hours of operation to the times in which UMC has sufficient surgical staff to respond to STAT requests"; and that UMC's "surgical staff did not respond to three pages for STAT assistance in a timely fashion that meets [the] acceptable standard of care."

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Of Sacramento Woman Caused By Medical Negligence, Part 2 of 5" »