Falcon v. Memorial Hospital
Michigan Supreme Court
462 N.W.2d 44 (1990)
Physician S.N. Kelso (defendant) delivered Nena Falcon's baby at Memorial Hospital (defendant); shortly after, Nena went into respiratory and cardiac failure and died minutes later from a rare, unpreventable amniotic fluid embolism. Nena's grandmother Ruby Falcon (plaintiff) sued for malpractice, and her expert testified that if an IV line had been placed once complications appeared, Nena would have had a 37.5 percent chance of surviving. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing Falcon couldn't show they more likely than not caused Nena's death; the trial court granted summary judgment, but an appellate court reversed.
Whether a medical malpractice claim may proceed where the physician's negligence is shown to have been a substantial factor in reducing the patient's opportunity to survive, even without proof that the physician's conduct more likely than not caused the death.