Cramer v. Slater

Rebecca Cramer (plaintiff) and her husband, Curt Cramer, took blood tests in preparation for an in vitro fertilization procedure at the Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine (ICRM) (defendant), which employed Dr. Cristin Slater and nurse K. C. Crowley (defendants). Both Rebecca and Curt were informed that their tests were negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, Curt’s tests actually showed that he was positive for HIV. Over one year later, Curt took a blood test in connection with his application for life insurance. Curt’s regular physician, Dr. Joel Swanson (defendant), informed Curt that he was HIV positive. Dr. Swanson gave Curt a second HIV test and let him know that a negative result would be returned in a couple of days, but a positive result would take longer. When Curt called Dr. Swanson’s office three days after the second test and learned that the test results had not come in, Curt committed suicide. Rebecca brought a suit for Curt’s wrongful death and negligent infliction of severe emotional distress against Swanson, ICRM, Slater, Crowley, Interpath Laboratory, Inc. (Interpath) (defendant), and various other defendants who were later dismissed by agreement of the parties. ICRM, Slater, and Crowley moved for summary judgment, arguing that their negligence in failing to inform Curt that he had HIV was not the proximate cause of his death. Rebecca opposed, arguing that if ICRM, Slater, and Crowley had properly informed Curt so that he could have received medical and psychiatric treatment, he would not have been subjected to the allegedly negligent manner in which Swanson informed him later. Rebecca presented evidence that it was reasonably foreseeable that a person would contemplate committing suicide after learning of a positive HIV diagnosis. A district court dismissed the wrongful-death action on summary judgment against all defendants except Swanson, holding that the negligent conduct of ICRM, Slater, and Crowley was not the proximate cause of Curt’s death and that their liability was cut off by the superseding act of Curt’s suicide. After a trial, a jury found in Rebecca’s favor on the negligence claim. Rebecca moved unsuccessfully for a new trial and appealed on various grounds, including the district court’s grant of summary judgment to ICRM, Slater, and Crowley.