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Johnson v. Riverdale Anesthesia Assocs. PC

The trial court properly excluded plaintiffs' irrelevant questions regarding what a defense expert would personally have done under the circumstances since the applicable standard of care is one employed by the medical profession generally.

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Clair Johnson suffered a severe allergic reaction to general anesthesia she received during surgery. The reaction caused brain damage, and Johnson ultimately died. Clair Johnson’s husband, Donald Johnson, and the administratrix of her estate, Donna Hood, sued the anesthesiologist, Dr. Robert Lawhead, and his employer, Riverdale Anesthesia Associates, Inc. Riverdale, for medical malpractice. Following a trial, the jury found in favor of Dr. Lawhead and Riverdale. The Plaintiffs appeal, challenging the trial court’s ruling on a motion in limine and the court’s refusal to give a requested jury instruction. Finding no error, we affirm.

1. Plaintiffs alleged that Dr. Lawhead committed medical malpractice by failing to pre-oxygenate Claire Johnson. In pre-oxygenation, a surgery patient is administered pure oxygen prior to surgery to provide an oxygen reserve during surgery. The defendants moved, in limine, for the court to prevent Plaintiffs from asking Defendants’ medical expert, Dr. Robert Caplan, whether he, personally, would have pre-oxygenated Johnson.1 The trial court granted the motion, and on appeal Plaintiffs assert the ruling was erroneous. We disagree.

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