Logacz

— This is a medical malpractice case in which Cynthia Logacz, the wife and mother, respectively, of the plaintiffs, Laszlo Logacz and Heath B. Dunnam, died allegedly as the result of the professional negligence of the defendant Raymond Limansky, M.D. Cynthia died on June 4, 1992 of pulmonary emboli, approximately two weeks after a hysterectomy performed by Dr. Limansky. Plaintiffs filed this action against Dr. Limansky and several other defendants. Following a trial during which the trial court refused to give a jury instruction on concurrent causation (BAJI No. 3.77), the jury found that while Dr. Limansky was indeed negligent in his care of Cynthia, such negligence was not a cause of her death. Plaintiffs appeal and assert as the sole claimed error, the trial court’s refusal to give the aforesaid requested instruction.

Because we conclude that, in this case, in which causation was the most critical contested issue and in which there was substantial evidence of multiple causes of Cynthia’s death, the trial court improperly instructed the jury with respect to concurrent causation and because such error was clearly prejudicial, we reverse and remand for a new…