Knowles

This is an appeal from judgment after a defense verdict in a medical malpractice action. Appellants are the surviving spouse and adult children of the deceased, Paula Knowles (Knowles). They contend the trial court failed to afford proper significance to a stipulated judgment against one of the defendants, thereby prejudicing their right to recover damages from another defendant, the respondent Tehachapi Valley Hospital District. Appellants also contend the trial court committed prejudicial error in permitting respondent to introduce impeachment evidence that tended to suggest that Knowles’s treatment at another hospital was the cause of her death. We conclude the trial court treated the stipulated judgment correctly and that any error in admitting the evidence of treatment at another hospital was not prejudicial. We affirm the judgment.

Facts and Procedural History

We summarize the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, noting conflicting evidence where relevant to the issues on appeal.

Paula Knowles consulted an internist about lower abdominal pain and severe weight loss she was experiencing. After a CAT scan showed the presence of an indeterminate…