Klemme

This appeal raises the question, said to be a recurring problem in the trial courts, whether in a negligence action involving multiple defendants, the trial court may, at the plaintiff’s request and over the defendants’ objections, direct the jury to apportion comparative fault among the defendants by special verdict. We conclude that it may not and that the trial court in the case at bench erred in requiring the jury to apportion fault among the defendants and an “other” nonparty. The more difficult question is whether the error was prejudicial requiring reversal of the judgment. We have concluded that it was not.

On August 4, 1973, plaintiff, while an in-patient at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, fell and sustained severe bodily injuries. At the time of the accident plaintiff was under the care of defendants Hansel D. Benvenuti, M.D. and J. Robert Egan, M.D., for diagnosis and treatment of intestinal and bowel dysfunction. Plaintiff’s suit for medical malpractice alleged that her fall and injury resulted from the negligent management of her case by the defendant doctors and negligent care and attendance by employees of the hospital. Hoag Hospital was originally…