Aidan Ming-Ho Leung v. Verdugo Hills Hospital

Opinion

KENNARD, J.

Six days after his birth, plaintiff suffered irreversible brain damage. Through his mother as guardian ad litem, he sued his pediatrician and the hospital in which he was bom. Before trial, plaintiff and the pediatrician agreed to a settlement of $1 million, the limit of the pediatrician’s malpractice insurance policy. At a jury trial, plaintiff was awarded both economic and noneconomic damages. The jury found that the pediatrician was 55 percent at fault, the hospital 40 percent at fault, and the parents 5 percent at fault.

On the hospital’s appeal, a major contention was…