On 04/26/2016 OTTO CARDOZA MORENO filed a Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice lawsuit against DONALD J PORTOCARRERO D O. This case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Courts, Stanley Mosk Courthouse located in Los Angeles, California. The Judge overseeing this case is STEPHEN I. GOORVITCH. The case status is Pending - Other Pending.
****8288
04/26/2016
Pending - Other Pending
Los Angeles County Superior Courts
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Los Angeles, California
STEPHEN I. GOORVITCH
MORENO OTTO CARDOZA
BENITO MARTIN
WHITE MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER
PORTOCARRERO DONALD J. D.O.
LIM ISAIAH
DOES 1 THROUGH 50
ADVENTIST HEALTH WHITE MEMORIAL
GLICKMAN & GLICKMAN A LAW CORPORATION
BLESSEY RAYMOND LESLIE
1/16/2018: NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO VACATE AND SET ASIDE DISMISSAL OF ENTIRE ACTION BASED ON ATTORNEY FAULT; ETC.
2/13/2018: NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL CIVIL
3/13/2018: DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF ATTORNEYS MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL CIVIL
6/21/2018: PROOF OF SERVICE SUMMONS
6/21/2018: PROOF OF SERVICE SUMMONS
7/24/2018: DEFENDANT ADVENTIST HEALTH WHITE MEMORIAL DBA WHITE MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTERS;AND ETC.
7/24/2018: NOTICE OF JURY FEE DEPOSIT ON BEHALF OF ADVENTIST HEALTH WHITE MEMORIAL DBA WHITE MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER (ERRONEOUSLY SUED AND SERVED AS WHITE MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER)
9/13/2018: REQUEST FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT
9/13/2018: REQUEST FOR ENTRY OF DEFAULT
9/13/2018: Minute Order
9/14/2018: SUPPLEMENTAL PROOF OF SERVICE
12/13/2018: Minute Order
2/26/2019: Proof of Personal Service
2/26/2019: Case Management Statement
2/26/2019: Proof of Personal Service
3/4/2019: Notice of Ruling
4/26/2016: SUMMONS
10/26/2017: Minute Order
Notice of Ruling; Filed by ADVENTIST HEALTH WHITE MEMORIAL (Defendant)
at 08:30 AM in Department 5, Stephen I. Goorvitch, Presiding; Order to Show Cause Re: (dismissal for failure to enter defaults / alternatively Trial Setting Conference) - Held
Order - Dismissal; Filed by Court
Minute Order ( (Order to Show Cause Re: dismissal for failure to enter defaul...)); Filed by Clerk
Proof of Personal Service; Filed by Otto Cardoza Moreno (Plaintiff)
Case Management Statement; Filed by Martin Benito (Defendant); Isaiah Lim (Defendant); White Memorial Medical Center (Legacy Party)
Proof of Personal Service; Filed by Otto Cardoza Moreno (Plaintiff)
Proof of Personal Service; Filed by Otto Cardoza Moreno (Plaintiff)
Answer; Filed by Martin Benito (Defendant)
Answer; Filed by Isaiah Lim (Defendant)
NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO VACATE AND SET ASIDE DISMISSAL OF ENTIRE ACTION BASED ON ATTORNEY FAULT; ETC.
at 08:30 AM in Department 97; (Trial; Order of Dismissal) -
Minute order entered: 2017-10-26 00:00:00; Filed by Clerk
Minute Order
at 10:00 AM in Department 97; Final Status Conference (Final Status Conference; Off Calendar) -
Minute order entered: 2017-10-10 00:00:00; Filed by Clerk
Minute Order
COMPLAINT FOR PERSONAL INJURIES AND DAMAGES
Complaint; Filed by Otto Cardoza Moreno (Plaintiff)
SUMMONS
Case Number: BC618288 Hearing Date: November 04, 2019 Dept: 5
otto cardona moreno
v. donald j. portocarrero, d.o., et al.,
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Case No.: BC618288
Hearing Date: November 4, 2019
[TENTATIVE] order RE: MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
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Background
Plaintiff Otto Cardoza Moreno (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendants White Memorial Medical Center (“White Memorial”), Martin Benito (“Benito”), Isaiah Lim (“Lim”) (collectively, “Defendants”) for medical malpractice. Plaintiff underwent a colonoscopy and endoscopy at White Memorial. During the procedure, Plaintiff awoke and tried to get out of the hospital bed. Lim, a hospital employee, grabbed Plaintiff to stop him from falling, and in the process, some formalin from a container Lim was holding splashed on Plaintiff’s face. Plaintiff claims injuries to his eye as a result. Plaintiff had also named the doctor who performed the procedures, Donald J. Portocarrero, D.O. (“Portocarrero”) as a Defendant, but the Court dismissed Portocarrero on March 1, 2019. Defendants move for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s complaint for medical malpractice. The unopposed motion is granted.
LEGAL STANDARD
“[T]he party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law . . . . There is a triable issue of material fact if, and only if, the evidence would allow a reasonable trier of fact to find the underlying fact in favor of the party opposing the motion in accordance with the applicable standard of proof.” (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850.) “[T]he party moving for summary judgment bears an initial burden of production to make a prima facie showing of the nonexistence of any triable issue of material fact; if he carries his burden of production, he causes a shift, and the opposing party is then subjected to a burden of production of his own to make a prima facie showing of the existence of a triable issue of material fact.” (Ibid.) In ruling on the motion, “the court may not weigh the plaintiff's evidence or inferences against the defendant[’s] as though it were sitting as the trier of fact.” (Id. at 856.) However, the court “must . . . determine what any evidence or inference could show or imply to a reasonable trier of fact.” (Ibid., emphasis original.)
DISCUSSION
Plaintiff must demonstrate that: (1) a medical professional had a duty to use the skill, prudence and diligence that members of the profession commonly possess and exercise; (2) breach of that duty; (3) an injury that resulted from the breach of that duty; and (4) actual loss or damage resulting from the breach of that duty. (Banerian v. O’Malley (1974) 42 Cal.App.3d 604, 612.) Expert testimony is the only admissible evidence on breach of the standard of care. (Landeros v. Flood (1976) 17 Cal.3d 399, 410.)
Defendants rely on the declaration of Benjamin Bert, M.D. (“Bert”), who is an ophthalmologist who reviewed Plaintiff’s medical records. Bert states that if the formalin had gotten into Plaintiff’s eye, Plaintiff would have felt irritation at the time of his discharge from the hospital, but Plaintiff reported at the time that he did not. Further, Bert states that Plaintiff’s subsequent reported eye symptoms are not consistent with a chemical injury. (Declaration of Benjamin Bert, M.D., ¶¶ 16-19.) Defendants’ evidence is sufficient to show that Defendants did not cause any injuries to Plaintiff. Defendants have shifted the burden to Plaintiff to raise triable issues of material facts as to whether Defendants caused Plaintiff’s injuries. Plaintiff has not opposed the motion and therefore cannot meet his burden to raise triable issues of material fact.
CONCLUSION AND ORDER
Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted. Defendants are to give notice, and file proof of service of such.
DATED: November 4, 2019 ___________________________
Stephen I. Goorvitch
Judge of the Superior Court