Opinion
No. CV 07 5003385
February 4, 2010
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR DIRECTED VERDICT
At the close of the plaintiffs' case, after the plaintiffs had rested, the defendants moved for a directed verdict.
The grounds for the motion was that the plaintiffs had failed to present evidence, through expert medical testimony, to connect the alleged failure of Dr. Amdur to comply with the standard of care with the death of the fetus in utero.
To prevail in a medical malpractice case the plaintiffs must prove three elements: 1. What the standard of care required under the circumstances, 2. That the defendant deviated from that standard, and 3. That there was a causal connection between the deviation and the claimed injury. These elements must be established by expert medical testimony. Boone v. William W. Backus Hospital, 272 Conn. 551, 567 (2005).
In this case the court finds, after consideration of the evidence presented, the arguments of counsel and the law, that the plaintiffs have not sustained the burden of proof with regard to the third element. There is no evidence from which the jury could properly determine that there is a causal connection between the alleged deviation and the death of the fetus in utero. See Russo v. Phoenix Internal Medicine Associates, PC, 109 Conn.App. 80, (2008); Wallace v. St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, 44 Conn.App. 257 (1997); Macchietto v. Keggi, 103 Conn.App. 769 (2007).
Accordingly, the motion for a directed verdict is granted and judgment may enter for the defendants.