The appellants appealed the dismissal of a medical malpractice action arising from the death of a patient undergoing treatment for tuberculosis.
The appeal focused on recusal, alleged negligence in the physician’s monitoring and follow-up system, and causation.
The court held that, although the trial judge had improperly received information caught by Rule 50.03, the circumstances did not give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias requiring recusal.
The court further held there was no basis to disturb the findings that the follow-up system did not establish negligence on the physician’s part and that any failure of follow-up did not cause or contribute to the death, because the accepted evidence showed no signs of hepatitis at the critical January assessment.
