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Aguirre-Alvarez v. Regents of University of California11/16/1998
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
(Super. Ct. No. SC023830)
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Laurence D. Rubin, Judge. Affirmed.
Does a hospital treating a patient in constructive police custody who dies at the hospital from gunshot wounds inflicted by police owe a duty to the decedent's relatives to locate and notify them? We conclude that the hospital does not owe such a duty.
FACTS
Appellants Manuel Aguirre and Rosa Alvarez are the parents of the deceased, 19-year-old Alfonso Aguirre-Alvarez (decedent). Appellant Apolonio Aguirre-Alvarez (Aguirre-Alvarez) is decedent's brother and the appointed personal representative of his brother's estate. Paramedics transported decedent on May 7, 1992, to UCLA Medical Center (UCLA), where he was admitted for emergency trauma care. Decedent had suffered six gunshot wounds to his chest, abdomen, and upper left extremity.
The gunshots injured several internal organs, decedent's spinal column, and his blood vessels. One of the injuries was to his colon, probably resulting in fecal matter infecting the abdominal cavity.
Initially, UCLA listed decedent as "John Doe." Subsequently, in accordance with hospital policy regarding patients with gunshot wounds or who have been involved in criminal activity, the hospital listed decedent on its charts and records under the alias "Frederick Inman."
UCLA surgeons performed a number of exploratory and remedial procedures. Physicians treated decedent aggressively with antibiotics. It was undisputed that the first three surgeries were performed consistent with the standard of care and did not cause decedent's death. Because of the condition of decedent's wounds, his chest cavity could not be completely closed, air leaks developed, and defendants found it impossible to "plug all the holes between the chest and belly." On May 13, 1992, the treating physicians diagnosed intra-abdominal peritonitis and neocrotizing fascitis of his anterior abdominal wall. Decedent was treated for these severe infections, but further complications developed. On May 18, 1992, decedent went into cardiac arrest, was resuscitated, but never again regained "baseline mental function." On May 20, 1992, septic shock caused renal failure. Decedent succumbed on May 25, 1992, as the result of overwhelming sepsis stemming from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the coroner's report. The coroner's report also states that decedent had suffered "in all likelihood, a minimum of three fatal [gunshot] wounds . . . ."
On May 13, 1992, UCLA social worker Sandra Creary-Jennings spoke with an LAPD detective about information that decedent had given to the nursing staff. According to the notes of Creary-Jennings, decedent gave his address as 21011 Rugby, Apartment V, Huntington Park, and his telephone number as 213-583-0363. Her notes also state: "Police department to contact patient's family since patient is in police custody." On that same date, Creary-Jennings telephoned the number decedent had provided and referred to decedent's true name (which police had provided). The person who answered stated that people kept calling that number and that they (the people answering the telephone) did not know anyone named Alvarez.
On a separate occasion before decedent expired, Richard Orlandi, a medical doctor at UCLA, was instructed to try to notify decedent's family. Dr. Orlandi contacted the police officer who was managing the case. That officer provided him with telephone number 213-583-0363. Dr. Orlandi placed a telephone call to that number. The person who answered the call tersely denied knowing decedent.
At t
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