Maureen E. Baker, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Barnaby Dupuis Baker v. Oregon Health & Science University and Rodney F. Pommier, M.D.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon denied Defendants’ remaining motion for summary judgment in a medical negligence action arising from Barnaby Baker’s intraoperative death. The court held that the expert testimony and other evidence created a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether preexisting cardiomegaly could have been detected through a proper preoperative cardiac evaluation and whether Defendants’ alleged negligence caused the death. The causation issue was therefore left for a jury.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was improper because the record, viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, presented a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Defendants' alleged failure to detect cardiomegaly caused Mr. Baker's death.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute of material fact concerning whether Defendants' alleged failure to discover Mr. Baker's preexisting cardiomegaly caused his death.
2. Whether the expert testimony that a preoperative cardiac evaluation may have made an enlarged heart readily apparent was legally sufficient, when viewed in Plaintiff's favor, to support a reasonable inference of causation under Oregon law.

Disposition

other