Kirkwood-Boulter, et al. v. Massachusetts General Hospital, et al., 35 Mass. L. Rptr. 38 (2018)

The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of a protective order requested by the defendant, Massachusetts General Hospital (“MGH”), in a medical malpractice case involving a labor and delivery at the hospital. MGH’s attorneys had sought to prevent SUGARMAN from questioning hospital witnesses as to whether or not the medical providers involved in the labor and delivery, including a travelling nurse supplied to MGH by a staffing company, had complied with MGH’s internal policies regarding fetal heart monitoring of the baby. The Appellate Court, however, agreed with SUGARMAN that such questions were permissible under the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure. SUGARMAN’s attorneys eventually resolved the medical malpractice claims against the MGH providers before obtaining a $30.55 million jury verdict against the corporation that had supplied the travelling nurse to MGH.