Bushling

Plaintiff Bushling went into the defendant hospital for an operation on his abdomen.

The morning after the operation, while plaintiff was in the hospital, he experienced pain in his shoulder.

Although he has undergone several surgeries on his shoulder, plaintiff has lost the use of his shoulder through nerve damage and is totally disabled.

In moving for summary judgment, the defendants declared that they did nothing wrong. Dr. Weber, who performed subsequent surgery on plaintiff’s shoulder, declared that, in his opinion, plaintiff’s injury had an “unknown cause.”

*513 In response to this showing by the defendants, plaintiff filed the declarations of two physicians. One of them, Ronald Katz, M.D. was the former chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at both the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC) Schools of Medicine. At the time of his declaration, he was professor of anesthesiology at both UCLA and USC. Both of plaintiff’s experts reviewed all medical records and Dr. Weber’s deposition and testified that, to a probability, the kind of injury suffered by plaintiff could not have occurred in the absence of…

*497 Opinion

Plaintiff Kevin Bushling underwent surgery on February 16, 1999, to remove his gall bladder and to biopsy a mole on his abdomen. The following morning plaintiff began to experience pain in his left shoulder. Thereafter, he filed this action against the surgeon and the anesthesiologist who performed the February 16 surgery and the hospital in which it took place, alleging they had been negligent in his treatment and care, which resulted in the injury to his shoulder.

Defendants filed a summary judgment motion and produced evidence to show that they were not guilty of negligence in plaintiff’s treatment or care. Plaintiff opposed the motion, relying primarily on declarations from two medical experts, Dr. Katz and Dr. Mar, to establish a triable issue of material fact. The trial court found that plaintiff’s evidence on the motion did not raise a triable issue of material fact and entered judgment for the defendants. Plaintiff appeals.

Because the declarations of Dr. Katz and Dr. Mar failed to provide a factual basis or a reasoned explanation for the doctors’ opinion that defendants were guilty of negligence, the declarations were of no evidentiary value. Plaintiff…

Plaintiff Kevin Bushling, underwent surgery on February 16, 1999, to remove his gall bladder and to biopsy a mole on his abdomen. The following morning plaintiff began to experience pain in his left shoulder. Thereafter, he filed this action against the surgeon and the anesthesiologist who performed the February 16 surgery and the hospital in which it took place, alleging they had been negligent in his treatment and care, which resulted in the injury to his shoulder.

Defendants filed a summary judgment motion and produced evidence to show that they were not guilty of negligence in plaintiff's treatment or care. Plaintiff opposed the motion, relying primarily on declarations from two medical experts, Dr. Katz and Dr. Mar, to establish a triable issue of material fact. The trial court found that plaintiff's evidence on the motion did not raise a triable issue of material fact and entered judgment for the defendants. Plaintiff appeals.

Because the declarations of Dr. Katz and Dr. Mar failed to provide a factual basis or a reasoned explanation for the doctors' opinion that defendants were guilty of negligence, the declarations were of no evidentiary value. Plaintiff failed…