Falcon v. Memorial Hospital
Michigan Supreme Court
462 N.W.2d 44 (1990)
- Written by Denise McGimsey, JD
Facts
Soon after physician S.N. Kelso, Jr. (defendant) delivered a baby of Nena Falcon (Nena) at Memorial Hospital (defendant), Nena went into respiratory and cardiac failure. She died a few minutes later from an amniotic fluid embolism, a rare and unpreventable condition. Nena’s grandmother Ruby Falcon (plaintiff) sued Kelso and Memorial Hospital in a Michigan state court for malpractice. Falcon’s expert medical witness testified in a deposition that if an intravenous line had been placed in Nena when her complications became apparent, she would have had a 37.5 percent chance of surviving the embolism. Defendants moved for summary judgment, contending that Falcon had failed to establish causation because she had not shown that defendants more likely than not caused Nena’s death. The trial court granted summary judgment. An appellate court reversed. Defendants appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Levin, J.)
Concurrence (Boyle, J.)
Dissent (Riley, C.J.)
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