Fritts v. McKinne
Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
934 P.2d 371 (1996)
Fritts was seriously injured, after drinking, when a truck he or a friend was driving hit a tree; five days later, Dr. McKinne (defendant) performed a tracheostomy during surgery to repair Fritts's facial fractures, and Fritts began bleeding and died three days later. Fritts's estate (plaintiff) sued McKinne for negligently failing to isolate the proper artery during surgery; McKinne argued comparative negligence based on Fritts's drunk driving or riding, and the trial court allowed evidence of Fritts's intoxication and instructed the jury on comparative negligence, resulting in a verdict for McKinne, which the estate appealed.
Whether a physician may avoid liability for negligent medical treatment by pointing to the patient's own negligence in originally causing the injury that made the treatment necessary.