Judge Cuts Malpractice Award by Two-Thirds

SANTA ANA — An Orange County Superior Court judge Monday slashed by two-thirds the $10.9 million awarded last month to the family of a Yorba Linda woman who died of cervical cancer.

The judge’s decision means the family will receive $3.25 million.

In April, a jury found Friendly Hills Medical Group of La Habra responsible for 30-year-old Christina Louise Rutledge’s death and awarded her husband and 7-year-old daughter $10.9 million in damages, most of which were for the loss of love and affection, past and future.

But defense attorneys argued Monday that the 1975 California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, or MICRA, limits the amount of damages for such noneconomic causes to $250,000.

During the hearing, Tom Kallay, one of the attorneys representing the Rutledge family, argued that because clerical error was ultimately the cause of Rutledge’s death, the jury’s verdict should fall outside of MICRA, which addresses individuals who provide medical services. Defense attorney S. Thomas Todd disagreed.

“This one is a real red herring,” Todd said. “Closing arguments are rife with references to negligence of the health-care providers. . . . A clerical error is an error of health-care providers.”

In February 1992, Christina Rutledge was under the care of Dr. Jesus Hernandez of Anaheim Hills, who is unaffiliated with Friendly Hills. Hernandez performed a Pap smear that showed abnormalities and wrote in Rutledge’s records that she should be tested again in three months, according to previous testimony in the case.

One month later, Rutledge developed pelvic pain and underwent an ultrasound, which turned up nothing.

Hernandez recommended a laparoscopy, an abdominal cavity exam, which Rutledge opted to have performed under coverage through her medical group, Friendly Hills. Hernandez signed a release for Rutledge’s records; Friendly Hills received her records, but they were never reviewed by doctors, according to testimony.

Rutledge never received the second Pap smear and died in August 1993, after a growth in her hip was determined to be cancerous.

During the hearing Monday, Judge Byron K. McMillan also decided that future economic losses--about $3 million--will not be awarded in one lump sum as the plaintiffs wished, but over a 25-year period, the estimated length of Christina Rutledge’s career had she continued working as a management consultant.

Outside of the courtroom, Michael Rutledge and his attorneys appeared troubled by the decisions.

“I’m upset with the law,” Rutledge said. “Clearly this wasn’t the intent of the jury.”