Another interesting aspect of the Liguori case, cited in the blog below, was the Court’s ruling that an anonymous letter apparently authored by a hospital employee was inadmissible. The letter, sent to the family of the deceased patient, was found to be hearsay (that is a statement offered by a witness not present at trial
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Normal Consent Rules Do Not Apply to Life-Threatening Situations In the recent decision of Liguori v. Hunter and others, decided July 24, 2006 (Docket #: A-1819-04T5), the Appellate Division ruled that, in the case of a life-threatening emergency, the normal need to obtain a patient’s “informed consent” does not apply. Here, the 71 year old
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Even When Nurse Leaves Hospital’s Employment Sometimes, in a malpractice case against a physician, the plaintiff’s best witness may be a nurse who was also involved in the patient’s care. When the nurses notes don’t jive with the doctors, calling the nurse as a witness to counter the doctor’s description of events is a useful
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Proving Negligence Not Enough… The Appellate Division’s decision in Stevenson v. Bobila on 6-26-06 underscores the need, in a medical malpractice case, to not only prove that the defendant doctor committed malpractice, i.e., was negligent, but also that the doctor’s negligence caused the patient actual harm. Sometimes this requires a separate expert on the issue
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Where to Repair Makes a Difference The recent decision in Paz v. Grasso, decided 6-15-06, points out something many medical malpractice lawyers have known for some time: not all NJ hospitals are equipped to provide care at a level that can be provided in NYC or Philadelphia. In Paz, the patient underwent a lap-choly procedure
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