Smith v. Shankman

Plaintiffs appeal from a verdict and judgment for the defendant in an action to recover damages for wrongful death allegedly resulting from medical malpractice. The plaintiffs are the surviving husband and six children of the decedent, Elsie Mae Smith, who died on July 1, 1956, as the result of a ruptured tubal pregnancy.

The facts developed on this trial show that at 2 p. m. on the day preceding her death, Elsie Mae Smith, age 28, began to suffer from cramps in her lower abdomen and fainted upon attempting to walk to the bathroom. At about 3 p. m., her husband called his wife’s regular doctor…