Medvecz v. Choi

OPINION OF THE COURT

ADAMS, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises the question whether in a medical malpractice action it was reversible error for the district court to refuse to submit to the jury the question of an anesthesiologist’s alleged abandonment of the patient during an operation, and the issue of punitive damages that might flow from such an abandonment. Because we conclude that in both respects there was reversible error, a new trial is required.

I

Violet Medvecz underwent elective renal arteriography at the Altoona Hospital, Al-toona, Pennsylvania, on December 27, 1972. The procedure…