Case 1

Walter needed a quadruple bypass to clear significant blockages in the arteries of his heart. While in the hospital on the day in which his surgery was scheduled to take place, he met with his surgeon Dr. Smith, who reviewed what would take place during the surgery and the expected post-surgery care. While meeting with Dr. Smith, Dr. Jones also stopped by to meet with Walter. Dr. Jones is an anesthesiologist and spoke to Walter about the general anesthetic that she would 3 | Page be administering in advance of and during the surgery. Once the doctors were finished speaking with Walter, they stepped out into the hallway. Walter heard Dr. Smith say to Dr. Jones "You better not screw up this time! I don't want to lose another patient." Dr. Jones said "Don't be such worrywart! Everything will be fine." This made Walter rather nervous. When he was wheeled into the operating room, both Drs. Smith and Jones were present. Walter said that he was very worried about the surgery and both doctors told him that everything should work out fine.

Dr. Jones correctly administered the general anesthetic at the beginning of the surgery. Her role was to constantly monitor Walter's condition and level of sedation during the entire procedure and adjust the anesthetic as necessary. Unknown to Dr. Smith, who was performing the bypass, Dr. Jones started daydreaming about an upcoming vacation and was trying to decide if she really wanted to go to the resort with her partner or if it would be better to go by herself. This daydreaming distracted her for about half an hour. During that period, adjustments that should have been made to the anesthetic were not made. Dr. Smith noticed that Walter's condition was starting to deteriorate and alerted Dr. Jones. Dr. Jones came out of her daydream and immediately realized that she had failed to properly monitor the level of anesthetic being administered to Walter. She saw that Walter was in perilous condition as a result and tried to correct her mistake but was unable to do so in time. Shortly thereafter, Walter went into cardiac arrest. Efforts were made to restart his heart, but they ultimately proved unsuccessful. As a result of a hospital autopsy, it was determined that Walter's cause of death was directly related to the improperly administered anesthetic.

Walter's family consulted a lawyer as they want advice as to what legal options are open to them. Please advise Walter's family on the following points:

a) What tort(s) apply on these facts? Explain in detail the applicable tort(s) and why the facts of this case fit within the selected tort(s).

b) Who are the proper defendants and why?

c) What arguments would the defendant(s) make to try and avoid liability?

d) What is the likely outcome of this case and why?

e) Would the result be different if it was established that Dr. Jones did not have professional liability insurance? Why or why not?