Copsey v. Park, 453 Md. 141

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that a defendant who generally denies liability in a medical negligence action may present evidence of a non-party’s negligence and causation. The court also held that whether subsequent medical negligence constituted an intervening and superseding cause was an issue for the jury. It affirmed the judgment in favor of the defendant radiologist and his employer.

Holdings

1. When a defendant generally denies liability in a negligence action, the defendant may present evidence of a non-party's negligence and causation as a defense. Evidence concerning the non-party physicians' negligence, former defendant status, and settlements was relevant and necessary to provide Dr. Park a fair trial, and its probative value was not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice.
2. A defendant may present to the jury the defense that subsequent negligence was an intervening and superseding cause. An intervening negligent act breaks the chain of causation when it is extraordinary and not reasonably foreseeable by the allegedly negligent party, and whether that standard is met is generally a question for the jury unless the facts permit only one inference.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by admitting evidence that non-party subsequent treating physicians were negligent and had previously been defendants who settled or were dismissed.
2. Whether the trial court erred by permitting Dr. Park to assert that the negligence of subsequent treating physicians was an intervening and superseding cause of Copsey's death.

Disposition

affirmed