Curtis

Plaintiff and appellant Scott Michael Curtis sued defendants and respondents Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and County of Santa Clara for medical malpractice. The trial court entered a judgment of nonsuit. On appeal, Curtis argues the evidence supported an inference of negligence even though no expert testimony was presented. We disagree and will affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On May 11, 1998, Curtis was rendered a paraplegic as a result of an automobile accident. On May 19, 1998, Curtis underwent posterior spinal fusion surgery. The surgery was designed to stabilize Curtis’s spine and achieve fusion through the insertion of hardware into Curtis’s back.

As part of the surgery, Curtis had to be placed “face down” in a “prone position.” Pressure on his face was reduced by a foam pillow that rested against his face, head and cheeks reducing pressure to Curtis’s eyes, nose and mouth. According to Curtis’s anesthesiologist, Dr. Steven King, Curtis’s “head was positioned in a foam headrest which had a spot placed face down in his foam headrest which is a cutout for his eyes and his nose.”

The foam pillow was used when patients were operated on in prone…