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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this elder abuse case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this wrongful death case and its proceedings.)

Plaintiffs’ Combined Memorandum in Opposition to the Demurrer by National Convalescent Hospital, Inc., and National Defendants to the Third Amended Complaint

Plaintiffs submit the following combined Memorandum of Points and Authorities in opposition to the Demurrer by National Convalescent Hospital, Inc., and the individual National Defendants (referred to as “Hill” or “Hill defendants”) to Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs have elected to file one memorandum in opposition to the two demurrers, because, with only one exception, the issues presented in the two demurrers are the same.

Plaintiffs have likewise contemporaneously filed a combined Memorandum of Points and Authorities in opposition to both motions to strike.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

INTRODUCTION

The demurrer based on the statute of limitations addressed to the First Cause of Action for negligence and the Eighth Cause of Action for wrongful death raises important issues related to the limits of the scope of MICRA. This is because the demurrer is based on the assumption that each of the defendants is benefitted by MICRA’s statute of limitations provision at C.C.P. §340.5.

Specifically, the issue is whether the Hill defendants, i.e., officers, directors or other persons who participate in or meddle in the administration of a skilled nursing facility but who have no license to do so are shielded by the license issued to the licensee and the application of MICRA.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this slip and fall case could just as easily occur at any of the supermarkets in the area, such as Safeway, Raley’s, Bel Air, Save Mart, Walmart, or Whole Foods.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

Memorandum of Points and Authorities In Support of Defendant Safeway Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment
INTRODUCTION

This action arises out of a slip and fall incident on March 24,2009, between 8:40 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., in the dairy department of a Safeway supermarket located in Sacramento, California. Defendant does not dispute that plaintiff fell. However, plaintiff cannot establish that there was anything on the floor for a sufficient period of time to provide notice to Safeway of any dangerous condition. Plaintiff concedes that she has no information as to how long any substance may have been present on the floor prior to her fall or how it came to be on the floor.

Safeway performed routine inspections of the floor where plaintiff fell prior to the fall. The floor was last inspected at 8:33 a.m., just 7 to 12 minutes prior to plaintiff’s fall.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs, MALYIA JEFFERS by her Guardian Ad Litem, THERESE ADAMS, CLPF, RYAN JEFFERS AND LEAH YANG, allege against CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba METHODIST HOSPITAL OF SACRAMENTO, CYNTHIA R. MYAS, CHRISTOPHER SCHAAL, JEFF FITE, SURJIT NIJJAR, GREGORY R. ROSELLINI, EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS MEDICAL GROUP, INC., and DOES 1 through 100, as follows:

Defendant, EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS MEDICAL GROUP, INC., was and is a corporation doing business in the County of Sacramento and State of California employing and placing for compensation medical personnel in various Emergency Departments, including the Emergency Department of CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST, INC., dba METHODIST HOSPITAL OF CALIFONRIA. On said time and place EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS MEDICAL GROUP, INC., and CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba METHODIST HOSPITAL OF SACRAMENTO employed and placed GREGRORY R. ROSELLINI, JEFF FITE and SURJIT NIJJAR and DOES 16 through 26 in the Emergency Department of METHODIST HOSPITAL and held these employees out as competent and trained in the protocols, policies, procedures, treatment plans and guidelines of that Emergency Department. On November 29, 2010, GREGRORY R. ROSELLINI, JEFF FITE and SURJIT NIJJAR and DOES 16-26 were acting within the course and scope of their employment when they had contact with and treated or failed to treat plaintiff, MALYIA JEFFERS.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs, MALYIA JEFFERS by her Guardian Ad Litem, THERESE ADAMS, CLPF, RYAN JEFFERS AND LEAH YANG, allege against CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba METHODIST HOSPITAL OF SACRAMENTO, CYNTHIA R. MYAS, CHRISTOPHER SCHAAL, JEFF FITE, SURJIT NIJJAR, GREGORY R. ROSELLINI, EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS MEDICAL GROUP, INC., and DOES 1 through 100, as follows:

Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and upon such information and belief allege, that at the times and places mentioned herein, defendants were the agents, servants, and employees of the remaining defendants, and each of them, and each of them were at all times and places mentioned herein acting within the purpose and scope of said agency, service and employment.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

At said time and place, defendants, CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba METHODIST HOSPITAL OF SACRAMENTO and DOES 1 through 10, and each of them, were and now are corporations, partnerships, associations, or other entities organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of California, and were at all times and places mentioned herein engaged in the ownership, operation, and maintenance of hospitals, emergency rooms, medical clinics and other medical facilities open to the general public and paying patients in and about the County of Sacramento, in the State of California or the employment and placing of medical personnel at various hospitals in Sacramento County. (See Part 3 of 7.)

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs, MALYIA JEFFERS by her Guardian Ad Litem, THERESE ADAMS, CLPF, RYAN JEFFERS AND LEAH YANG, allege against CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST dba METHODIST HOSPITAL OF SACRAMENTO, CYNTHIA R. MYAS, CHRISTOPHER SCHAAL, JEFF FITE, SURJIT NIJJAR, GREGORY R. ROSELLINI, EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS MEDICAL GROUP, INC., and DOES 1 through 100, as follows:

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION

(Medical Malpractice – Against All Defendants)

This complaint is properly filed in Sacramento County because the events and injuries described herein occurred in said county and the defendants’ principle place of business is in said county.

The true names and capacities, whether individual, corporate, associate, or otherwise, of
defendants, DOES 1 through 100, are unknown to plaintiffs who therefore sue said defendants by such fictitious names and will ask leave to amend this complaint when the true names and
capacities have been ascertained. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege on such information and belief, that each of the fictitiously named defendants is responsible in some manner for the occurrences herein alleged, either as physicians, surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, other medical practitioners, pharmacists, hospitals or hospital attendants, ambulance companies or attendants, or manufacturers, suppliers, sellers, or distributors or otherwise, and said defendants negligently acted or failed to act in one or more of said occupations or businesses, which negligence proximately caused plaintiffs’ injuries as herein alleged.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

Malyia Jeffers, 2, is back in Sacramento this week and getting physical therapy at UC Davis Medical Center a few months after an infection led to the amputation of her hand and both her legs.

“She’s very active now and playing, going to the gym and she’s having fun,” Malyia’s father Ryan Jeffers said.

Her parents first brought her to Methodist Hospital of Sacramento in November. Ryan Jeffers says his daughter’s temperature continued to rise as they waited in the ER and her cheeks began to bruise out of nowhere. After waiting for hours, Jeffers says he got a doctor to see his daughter. Little Malyia would eventually be transferred to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Jeffers wonders if the time they spent waiting at Methodist Hospital, cost his daughter’s limbs.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General, California Pacific Medical Center, or St. Francis Memorial Hospital.

Parents of 2-year-old Malyia Jeffers are suing Sacramento’s Methodist Hospital after alleged ER negligence resulted in the amputation of their daughter’s hands and feet.

“At this point she couldn’t walk,” the girl’s father, Ryan Jeffers, told KXTV. “I was carrying her around for another hour-and-a-half. They tell us we’re next, so we’re figuring we’re next. Still, hours went by so I really told them that … you have to see her now. Her fever’s gone up, hasn’t gone down from the Motrin or Tylenol.”

For more information you are welcome to contact San Francisco personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Once seen by medical staff, Malyia’s condition required that she be flown to Stanford University Hospital, where she was diagnosed with septic shock. The shock resulted in the loss of her feet, her left hand and part of her right hand.

In rare, more aggressive types of strep, the streptococcus bacteria that causes the illness can move from the throat to the bloodstream and the resulting sepsis can lead to the loss of extremities, says Dr. Ari Brown, a pediatrician in Austin, Texas, and co-author of “Baby 411.”

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

Ryan Jeffers and Leah Vang saw life seeping out of their toddler’s body during five hours of waiting in Methodist Hospital’s emergency room and begged for help, alleges a lawsuit filed Monday.

“Medical care came too late,” the suit says. The girl lost parts of her four limbs from a bacterial infection.

The Sacramento Bee reported that the lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court charges Catholic Healthcare West, Methodist Hospital in south Sacramento, and various emergency room workers with medical malpractice and negligence in delaying treatment for Malyia, who later was flown to Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for lifesaving care. Streptococcus A had invaded her blood and organs; as a result she suffered amputations of both feet, her left hand and part of her right hand. She is in intensive rehabilitation therapy.

“There is nothing we can do to bring back Malyia’s amputated hands and feet,” said the family’s lawyer, Moseley Collins, III. “However, we hope that her lawsuit will convince emergency rooms in Sacramento to do a better job treating our seriously ill children and make health care in our city safer for all of us.”

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, or Sutter.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

Dr. Black’s Cover-Up
From just about the moment the colon was perforated, Dr. Black, and perhaps his staff, moved into cover-up mode. Dr. Black filed two separate reports for the endoscopy of Ms. Hill, one saying everything went smoothly, and then one admitting the problems that arose.

Although Ms. Hill exhibited no pain in the days leading up to the procedure, there were improbable claims that in the endoscopy recovery area, while Ms. Hill was writhing in pain and still heavily sedated, she supposedly entered into a conversation to say she had abdominal pain three days earlier.

Dr. Black called Ms Hill’s daughter, leaving a voice mail telling her to come right down and escort her mother to the hospital, and he also made sure to leave on the voice message that her perforation occurred three to four days earlier. That level of specificity seems far too convenient, and, therefore, appears well-planned.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, Regional Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, or O’Connor Hospital.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

THE COURT’S POWER

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 437c gives this court the power to grant this motion upon showing that there are no triable issues of material fact.

The purpose of the law of summary judgment is to provide courts with a mechanism to cut through the parties’ pleadings in order to determine whether, despite their allegations, trial is in fact necessary to resolve their dispute. Molko v. Holy Spirit Assn. (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1092, 1107. It is pointless to declare in the abstract that summary judgment is a disfavored remedy. Reader’s Digest Association v. Superior Court (1984) 37 Cal.3d 244, 252. On summary judgment, the moving party’s burden is more properly one of persuasion rather than of proof, since he must persuade the court there is no material fact for a reasonable trier of fact to find, and not prove any such fact to the satisfaction of the court itself as if it were sitting as the trier of fact. Molko, supra at 372-374.

For more information you are welcome to contact San Jose personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

California’s highest court clarified the law that courts must apply in ruling on motions for summary judgment, bringing this state’s law closer to its federal counterpart in order to liberalize the granting of such motions. Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Company (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 855, 859 (emphasis added). The Supreme Court made clear that a defendant moving for summary judgment is no longer required to conclusively negate an element of the plaintiffs cause of action. Id. at p. 864. All the defendant need do is to show that the plaintiff cannot establish at least one element of the cause of action. Id. The defendant has shown that the plaintiff cannot establish at least one element of the cause of action by showing that the plaintiff does not possess, and cannot reasonably obtain, needed evidence. Id. at p. 865.

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