Baxter

This case presents an issue of statutory construction involving Health and Safety Code section 1799.110, which sets forth the criteria for admission of expert testimony in lawsuits against emergency room physicians. In an action for negligence and emotional distress against defendant hospital, the trial court refused to allow testimony by plaintiffs’ expert witness based on the court’s construction of the statute, and accordingly granted a motion for nonsuit. On appeal, plaintiffs challenge the court’s construction, arguing the statute is inapplicable in this case, and even if it is applicable, its language does not preclude their witness from testifying. We agree with the first argument and accordingly reverse the judgment. We thereupon find it unnecessary to address the second argument.

Facts

On April 12, 1981, Gloria Baxter brought her daughter Lora to the emergency room of Alexian Brothers Flospital. Lora was experiencing severe abdominal pain and had been vomiting blood. The emergency physician on duty, aware that Lora was pregnant, assumed she was having a miscarriage and left her in the treatment room for two and one-half hours, returning periodically to examine…