Article: ‘Error of Judgment’ Jury Charge Banned in Med Mal Cases

   Search: Go
 

Legal News

‘Error of Judgment’ Jury Charge Banned in Med Mal Cases

The “error of judgment” charge instructs jurors that if a physician acts appropriately within the standard of care in an effort to arrive at a diagnosis and given a number of alternatives, he chooses incorrectly, he is not liable for the error in judgment.

Although the “error of judgment” charge is not a standard civil jury instruction, judges have permitted its use in cases with appropriate facts. In Pringle v. Rapaport, the trial judge permitted the defense to present the “error of judgment” charge to the jury in a case brought by the parents of a baby with a paralyzed arm due to complications during delivery. The jury found in favor of the defense. The parents appealed and a divided en banc panel of the Superior Court held that “the ‘error of judgment’ instruction should not be given in medical malpractice actions, as it does not inform jurors on the applicable standard of care and instead tends only to confuse, rather than clarify, the issues the jury must decide.”

The following is an example of the language used in an “error of judgment” charge:
    A physician is not liable for an error in judgment. If a physician employs the required skill, knowledge, judgment and care customarily exercised in his profession, the mere fact that he has erred in his diagnosis will not render him liable, even though his treatment is not proper for the condition that actually exists. Smith v. Yoh, 194 A.2d 167 (Pa. 1963); Havasy v. Resnick, 609 A.2d 1326, 1335-1336 (Pa. Super. 1992).

The Pringle ruling notes that the charge suggests that a doctor is not liable for a negligent exercise of judgment and that the focus must be on whether or not the doctor’s conduct was within the standard of care. In addition, the phrase “mere error of judgment” could imply to a jury that a doctor’s error is not serious enough to impose liability.

The dissenting opinion remarks that “read as a whole, the charge accurately reflects that doctors are liable if they deviate from the standard of care, but if a judgment turns out to be wrong, the doctor cannot automatically be found negligent.”

 

 
 

© 2005 | Privacy Policy | Legal

Pennsylvania: Hickory Pointe, 2250 Hickory Rd, Suite 300 | Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 | (610) 834-8800 | 610-834-1749 (fax)