Tuer v. McDonald
Court of Appeals of Maryland
701 A.2d 1101 (Md. 1997)
Following existing hospital protocol, Dr. McDonald (defendant) discontinued patient Tuer's Heparin the morning of scheduled surgery and, after the surgery was delayed for an emergency, made a reasoned judgment call not to restart it given surgical risks; Tuer suffered cardiac arrest before surgery and died, and afterward the hospital changed its protocol to allow Heparin until immediately before surgery, evidence Mrs. Tuer (plaintiff) sought to introduce for feasibility or impeachment purposes.
Whether a doctor's professional judgment call to follow an existing medical protocol renders evidence of a subsequent remedial change in the protocol admissible for either feasibility or impeachment purposes.