 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Jeter v. Mayo Clinic Arizona10/27/2005
Belinda and William Jeter ("the Jeters") appeal from the dismissal of their lawsuit against the Mayo Clinic Arizona doing business as Mayo Clinic Scottsdale and/or the Center for Reproductive Medicine ("Mayo"). The Jeters sued Mayo for the alleged negligent destruction or loss of five of the Jeters' frozen human pre-implantation embryos or pre-embryos, which Mayo agreed to cryopreserve and store.
The superior court held the Jeters had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and dismissed their wrongful death claim because the pre-embryos were not "persons" under Arizona's wrongful death statutes, Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") sections 12-611 to -613 (2003). It also held Arizona did not recognize the Jeters' claim for negligent loss of irreplaceable property. The court further rejected the Jeters' breach of fiduciary duty and breach of bailment contract claims as barred by Arizona's Medical Malpractice Act, A.R.S. ยงยง 12-561 to -594 (2003 & Supp. 2004).
For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the superior court's dismissal of the wrongful death claim and hold that absent legislative action expanding the wrongful death statutes, as a matter of law, a cryopreserved, three-day old fertilized human egg is not a "person" for purposes of that statute. However, we reverse the dismissal of the other three claims and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Since the complaint was dismissed at the pleading stage for failure to state a claim, we review the well-pleaded facts alleged in the complaint as true. Shannon v. Butler Homes, 102 Ariz. 312, 315, 428 P.2d 990, 993 (1967) (court will accept as true only well-pleaded facts). However, we do not accept as true allegations consisting of conclusions of law, inferences or deductions that are not necessarily implied by well-pleaded facts, unreasonable inferences or unsupported conclusions from such facts, or legal conclusions alleged as facts. Id.; Dockery v. Central Ariz. Light and Power Co., 45 Ariz. 434, 439, 45 P.2d 656, 658 (1935) (only well-pleaded facts accepted as true, not inferences that are not necessarily implied by such facts); Kellogg v. Nebraska Dep't of Corr., 690 N.W.2d 574, 578 (Neb. 2005) (court will ignore legal conclusions in form of factual allegations).
The Jeters went to Mayo for information on medical procedures that would assist them in conceiving a child. Mayo offered certain services for harvesting, storing and implanting pre-embryos, including in vitro fertilization. With the consent of the Jeters, Dr. Anita Singh at Mayo retrieved or harvested multiple eggs from Belinda Jeter, which were fertilized in vitro (outside Mrs. Jeter's womb) with William Jeter's sperm. The resulting zygotes were permitted to progress through several divisions in the laboratory over a period of forty-eight to seventy-two hours, developing from single-cell organisms to two-to eight-cell organisms. While the Jeters' complaint refers to these fertilized eggs as "viable embryos," such a characterization is a conclusion that is not necessarily implied from the well-pleaded facts. Pursuant to a written consent form, Mayo and the Jeters agreed to have Mayo cryopreserve and store the pre-embryos.
Belinda Jeter underwent two unsuccessful non-surgical in vitro fertilization procedures at Mayo attempting to implant the pre-embryos into her womb. The Jeters then began looking at alternative procedures.
The Jeters decided to utilize the services of Dr. Jay Nemiro at the Arizona Center for Fertility Studies Ltd. ("Arizona Center"). Dr. Nemiro offered them an alternative procedure called a t
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Arizona Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|