Judge: Glenn R. Salter, Case: 22-1249241, Date: 2022-10-06 Tentative Ruling

Demurrer

The demurrer of the defendant to the complaint is OVERRULED with 20 days to answer.

The form complaint alleges that after a nurse changed an IV bottle, the plaintiff got up to go the restroom, slipped and fell on some liquid on the floor and was injured.

The complaint alleges two causes of action against defendant Los Alamitos Medical Center for general negligence and premises liability.  The demurrer argues that under the California Supreme Court’s holding in Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (2016) 63 Cal.4th 75, this should have been a claim for professional negligence.

This court reads Flores differently.  The Court’s concluding explanation of the dividing line between negligence and professional negligence (Flores, supra, 63 Cal.4th at pp. 88-89) would appear to place the incident here in the basic category of negligence.  Although the giving of fluid through an IV bottle is part of medical care, the Supreme Court concluded that the maintenance of “equipment and premises” that are “incidental” to the provision of medical care is not professional negligence.  Nothing in the complaint suggests that the IV bottle was faulty, only that the nurse spilled some contents.

Moreover, the complaint states a cause of action against the defendant under either theory, and was filed timely under either theory.

Case Management Conference

The court sets a 5-day jury trial for September 11, 2023, at 9 am.  Any party wishing a jury trial shall post jury fees within 30 days or will be deemed to have waived.  Parties shall comply with Local Rule 317.

The court sets a Mandatory Settlement Conference on July 28, 2023, at 8:30 am.

Notice

The plaintiff shall give notice.