Defendant's Attorney: Denver, Colorado insurance defense lawyer represented the Defendant.

Description: Denver, Colorado personal injury lawyers represented the Plaintiffs who sued the Defendant on a medical malpractice negligence theory.

To prevail on a claim of medical malpractice in Colorado, a plaintiff must prove that a healthcare provider failed to conform to an acceptable standard of health care and that this failure caused injury. A jury will compare the defendant’s conduct with what a reasonably careful healthcare provider in the same field of practice would have done in the same circumstances. Wallbank v. Rothenberg, 74 P.3d 413 (Colo. App. 2003); Tracz v. Charter Centennial Peaks Behavioral Health Systems, Inc., 9 P.3d 1168 (Colo. App. 2000).

Colorado’s primary statute addressing medical malpractice (also called medical negligence) is the Health Care Availability Act. Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-64-101 to -503. However, some important provisions governing malpractice claims are found in other parts of Colorado’s legal code.

This medical malpractice case is about double recovery. Plaintiff Jody Blatchley alleges that he suffered permanent disability because of the negligence of medical staff while he was receiving care at St. Anthony Summit Medical Center ("SASMC"). After he and his wife Delfina Blatchley (collectively, "the Blatchleys") filed suit, they settled with the orthopedic surgeons and physician assistants ("PAs") responsible for Blatchley's care but not with SASMC, which employed his nurses. SASMC filed a nonparty designation stating that the surgeons and PAs were wholly or partially at fault, thereby alerting the district court that comparative fault would be an issue. The district court struck the designation and did not allow SASMC to amend. At trial, the court refused to instruct the jury on comparative fault, thus allowing the Blatchleys to recover twice for the same harm—from SASMC and from the settling codefendants. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

Outcome: 02/07/2024 751 STIPULATION of Dismissal of Case WITH PREJUDICE by Defendant St. Anthony Summit Medical Center. (Foley, Michael) (Entered: 02/07/2024)
02/07/2024 752 ORDER DISMISSING CASE pursuant to 751 Stipulation of Dismissal. All claims asserted in this action are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, with each party to bear its own fees and costs. SO ORDERED by Judge Daniel D. Domenico on 2/7/2024. Text Only Entry (dddlc8, ) (Entered: 02/07/2024)
02/07/2024 753 Civil Case Terminated pursuant to ECF 752 on 7 February 2024. Text Only Entry (cmadr, ) (Entered: 02/08/2024)

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