Lasher v. University of Washington

— Leslie A. Lasher, as guardian for her husband, Jeffrey T. Lasher, appeals from the judgment entered on the jury’s verdict in this medical malpractice case against the University of Washington and H. Leon Greene, M.D. She argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence about Dr. Greene’s “habit” of warning patients with heart conditions like Jeffrey Lasher’s about certain kinds of activity. Because that testimony concerned an issue central to this case and should have been excluded under RCW 5.60.030, the deadman’s statute, we reverse.

FACTS

In 1986, Jeffrey Lasher, who was then 21 and…