Duarte
Duarte v. Chino Community Hospital
Opinion
Opinion
Acting, J.
The plaintiffs, the surviving family members of a woman who died from severe head injuries suffered in an automobile accident, sued the woman’s attending physician and hospital for damages for an allegedly negligent failure to either comply with the family’s request to terminate use of a respirator or to transfer the woman to a health care provider who would comply. The plaintiffs appeal from a defense verdict. We affirm.
Factual and Procedural Background
Martha Duarte (Mrs. Duarte) suffered a broken neck in an automotive accident on June 3, 1991. She was taken to the emergency room of Chino Community Hospital. When she was admitted, she was comatose and was placed on a respirator.
After reviewing the results of an EEG and a CAT scan, the neurologist on the case, Dr. Virabantha, told the family on June 4 that Mrs. Duarte could not recover the ability to think and function as a human being. On June 8, Dr. Virabantha opined that Mrs. Duarte was in a persistent vegetative state as the result of damage to her brain stem and the trauma to her spinal cord. Those injuries were irreparable, according to the consulting neurosurgeon. By June 10, Mrs. Duarte’s arms and legs were…