Fein v. Permanente Medical Group
Supreme Court of California
695 P.2d 665 (1985)
Fein (plaintiff) went to Permanente Medical Group (defendant), a Kaiser affiliate, for chest pain and was seen only by a nurse practitioner, who diagnosed a muscle spasm; a later ER doctor reached the same wrong diagnosis. Only on a third visit did a doctor order an EKG, revealing Fein was having a heart attack, causing him to lose roughly half his remaining life expectancy according to his expert. Fein sued for malpractice. In jury selection, the judge excused all 24 potential jurors who were Kaiser members for cause, reasoning individual voir dire of them would be too time-consuming. The judge also instructed the jury that the nurse practitioner should be held to a physician's standard of care. The jury awarded Fein about $1 million, and Permanente appealed both rulings.
Whether a trial court commits reversible error by categorically excluding a class of jurors with only a tangential relationship to a party to avoid a lengthy voir dire, or by giving an erroneous jury instruction that did not affect the case's outcome.