Jutzi

Plaintiff Judy Jutzi sued defendant County of Los Angeles for alleged medical malpractice involving medical services rendered at Los Angeles County USC (University of Southern California) Medical Center. A jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant, and the trial court denied plaintiff’s motions for new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

Plaintiff appeals from the judgment and the denial of her motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, contending that (1) the trial court erred in applying to this case Health and Safety Code section 1799.110 (formerly Health & Saf. Code, § 1768), which requires additional qualifications of expert witnesses who testify regarding emergency medical care; (2) the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of certain medical witnesses; (3) defendant’s attorney committed misconduct during argument; and (4) a juror committed misconduct (hiring deliberations. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment and the order denying judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

Facts

About 10 p.m. on Sunday, December 5, 1976, plaintiff, a 30-year old woman, broke her left ankle in a fall down a flight of stairs. A…