Friday, October 07, 2022

Kruthanoochi v. Glendale Adventist Med. Center (Cal. Ct. App. - Oct. 5, 2022)

It doesn't happen to be my particular religion, but two opinions from the Court of Appeal were published a couple of hours before sunset on Yom Kippur, and they seem to me to have a related underlying theme -- even though they are factually and legally quite distant from each other.

The first case is this one, which says 10/4 at the top but which was actually posted on the afternoon of the 5th. It's a medical malpractice lawsuit posing as an elder abuse claim. There, an elderly man named Daniel Kruthanooch went to Glendale Adventist Hospital because he "woke up weaker than usual" that morning. Mr. Kruthanooch "had a history of coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. He had also had back surgery earlier that year." Suffice it to say that Mr. Kruthanooch doesn't seem like he was in awesome shape even prior to the hospital visit.

At the same time, he definitely didn't get any better during the visit. Indeed, in at least one respect, it seems he got worse.

To try to figure out what was wrong with Mr. Kruthanooch, they sent him to have an MRI. Now, as you undoubtedly know, it's super important not to have metal on you when you go into those things. So they check, and don't find anything. But for some seemingly inexplicable reason, they don't notice that a metal ECG pad was left on Mr. Kruthanooch's body. So when he goes into the MRI machine, things start heating up a ton, and Mr. Kruthanooch presumably feels the thing doing so -- indeed, he starts moving around in the MRI machine, at which point the person running the thing tells him to cut it out and stop moving, but he does it again, but whatever, eventually the whole MRI thing is over.

They pull him out of the MRI and he tells the doctor that "something was going on with his lower abdomen.” So they check it out and, lo and behold, there's the ECG pad that was left on during the MRI, and when they pull the pad back, they totally discover a burn right under it -- the nurse said it "looked like a blister or second-degree burn.” So they admit him for a couple of days, treat him, and then let him go. But not before the doctor writes in the patient's chart: "While an [sic] MRI apparently the EKG electrode was not removed and the patient sustained a second degree burn to the left lower quadrant.”

Eighteen months later, Mr. Kruthanooch sues for the burn. Eight months after that, he dies. A year or so later, the case goes to trial, and the question is whether the defendant is liable.

Here's where, in my mind, some atonement is due on both sides.

First, at trial, the defendant puts an expert -- "Dr. Terry Dubrow, a specialist in reconstructive plastic surgery" on the stand. Dr. Dubrow opined that "the metal in the ECG pads did not cause Kruthanooch’s burn" and that "the actual cause was 'unknowable'” because "Kruthanooch was “very, very ill” and that anything from “fluid status changes” to something on the surface of Kruthanooch’s skin could have been the cause."

To which I say: Shut up. Or at least atone for what you said. Admittedly, I wasn't at the trial. But I have zero doubt that the ECG pads in the MRI caused the burn. As did the jury, which found liability.

But then, on the other side, there's the damages testimony offered by plaintiff:

"The jury also heard testimony from Daniel and Sam Kruthanooch, the decedent’s sons. Sam testified that he had advised Kruthanooch to go to the hospital when his father informed him that he was feeling weak. When he visited his father that evening, he learned of the burn. He testified that the burn “seemed to affect his walking immediately.” Sam testified that, prior to the burn, Kruthanooch “did everything on his own,” and that after the burn he relied on his wife “to do just about everything for him,” such as helping him to move about the house, helping him to shower and use the bathroom, cooking his meals, and doing the shopping—things that Kruthanooch had previously handled on his own. Sam recognized that his father “had a lot of health problems” but testified that “the burn just made those things much worse.” Daniel testified that, prior to receiving the burn, Kruthanooch was “very independent” and was “up and adam [sic] . . . a go-getter . . . and he did everything himself.” After the burn, Daniel testified that Kruthanooch was “a different person,” “couldn’t get up,” and “couldn’t do stuff on his own.”"

Now, I'm certain that the burn didn't help anything, and probably made things a bit worse. But to try to frame the burn as causing most or all of the problems this already-seriously-weak elderly man had to go through during the final year(s) of his life seems less than plausible. He might perhaps have been "a different person" during that very last period before his death. But it wasn't primarily due to the burn from the ECG pad.

Which, perhaps, is why the jury awarded no damages.

I understand that in both civil and criminal cases, people -- including those who testify under oath -- sometimes act more as advocates rather than neutral witnesses.

But that's not what the process calls for. As well as something for which to atone if you've participated in such efforts.

Then there's the second case, this one. It's a "religious" case. Sort of. I'll just have to give you the opening lines of the opinion and you'll readily see that it's consistent with today's theme:

"April Elizabeth Mancini owns the Jah Healing Kemetic Temple of the Divine Church, Inc. (the Church), whose adherents consume cannabis blessed by Church pastors as “sacrament.” . . . [In early 2018,] the Church moved to its current location at 208 E. Big Bear Boulevard. In April 2018, County authorities executed a search warrant of the premises. Officer Jorgensen observed many signs that the Church was operating a dispensary, including cabinets filled with cannabis in jars, cannabis-infused drinks and edibles, vape cartridges, teas, creams, oils, cash registers, scales, packaging materials, bags, medicine bottles, pricing information, and an ATM machine. . . . Officer Jorgensen conducted another inspection of the premises in August 2018. He observed a menu of cannabis products and a “cash only” sign. When Officer Jorgensen asked Mancini whether the Church continued to dispense cannabis, she responded that “church members come in, they tithe, choose their sacrament, pray, and then they leave.”"

Yeah. I get it. No need to say anything more. I think we all know pretty much exactly what's going on here.