Cade

Plaintiffs Alfree Cade, Antoinette Houston and, by Alfree - Cade, their guardian ad litem, minors Norwood, Michael, Mitchell and Majda Cade, filed a complaint for damages for the alleged wrongful death of Myrtle Cade, Alfree’s wife and the mother of the other five named plaintiffs, against defendants Mid-City Hospital, a corporation; the County of Los Angeles; Bassett H. L. Brown, M.D., and Newton Woodard, M.D.; Lincoln R. Best, M.D.; and Does I through X. Later Charles E. Weinstein, M.D. and David Fiske, M.D. were served as Does I and II, respectively. The complaint alleged the negligence of Mid-City Hospital and of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, and also alleged negligence resulting from the malpractice of medicine by the defendant doctors as the proximate cause of Mrs. Cade’s death.

Trial was by jury. The jury returned a verdict exonerating all of the defendants. Plaintiffs appeal the judgment, which we affirm. Our factual recital includes, as it must, the evidence most favorable to the defendants, the prevailing parties in the trial court. (6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, §§ 248, 249, pp. 4240-4241.)

In 1969, Myrtle Cade was 43 years of age,…