Leonard Ortiz vs. William Davis

Motion to Compel Answers to Interrogatories

Cal. Super. - 4th Dist.January 26, 2017

A I T K E N 4 A I T K E N + C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 © © 3 a N n t B W N D - _ e m e m e d p d e m e d S N W n B R A W N = O 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 92 70 7 D O N N N N N D T = e w n ~ W w B o - fe ) O o o o ~ b o A N 27 €9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER RICHARD A. COHN, ESQ. (SBN 145156) ATTICUS N. WEGMAN, ESQ. (SBN 273496) AITKEN 4+ AITKEN +COHN 3 MACARTHUR PLACE, SUITE 800 P.O. BOX 2555 SANTA ANA, CA 92707-2555 (714) 434-1424/(714) 434-3600 FAX Attorneys for Plaintiffs Leonard Ortiz and Donna Ortiz SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF ORANGE CIVIL COMPLEX CENTER Leonard Ortiz, an individual; Donna Ortiz, an individual, Plaintiffs, VS. Dr. William Davis, an individual; Orange County Global Medical Center; and DOES 1-50, inclusive; Defendants. Nar”Nar”Nr” N r ? ” N a r ” S e r ” N a r ” N e e r ” M e r ” N r N e ” N a e N e e ” N r ” N e N e ” N a e e e N e a e N a a N a N e N a e N e a e CASE NO: 30-2017-00899692 [Hon. Ronald L. Bauer, Dept. CX103] PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER [Filed concurrently With Separate Statement in Support] Date: April 2,2018 Time: 9:00 a.m. Dept.: CX103 Complaint Filed: January 26, 2017 Trial Date: July 9, 2018 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 1 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER - 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 g 13 = SEs 8 14 rs = kak wn 5ssg EEZ23s 16 $8<31% EET: 17des 1 Eow - z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 €9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on April 2, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. in Department CX103 of the above captioned court located at 751 West Santa Ana Blvd, Santa Ana, California, Plaintiffs Leonard Ortiz and Donna Ortiz will, and hereby do, move this court for order to compelfurther responses from Defendant OC Global Medical Center to Special Interrogatories, Set No. One. The motion is based on the grounds that said discovery is proper, clear and non- objectionable, and that said defendant has failed, without justification,to sufficiently respond to said request to identify and produce documents. The motion is based on this notice of motion and the attached memorandum of points and authorities and Declaration of Atticus N. Wegman,the pleadings on file with the Court and on such other evidence as may be presented at the hearing of the motion. Dated: February 22, 2018 AITKEN+AITKEN 4+ COHN RICHARD A. COHN ATTICUS N. WEGMAN Attorney for Plaintiffs LEONARD ORTIZ and DONNA ORTIZ 2 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER A I T K E N 4+ A I T K E N 4 C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 N o O C 0 N N A N w n B k W w 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 92 70 7 £9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES LL INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz was treated by Dr. William Davis for stomach pain on February 10, 2016. Due to Defendant Dr. William Davis’ grossly negligent treatment and Defendant OC Global Medical Center’s (hereinafter “OC Global”) failure to ensure the competency, review, and screening of Dr. Davis, Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz was subjected to approximately forty (40) identical surgeries over the course offive (5) months. The result was horrific and life-altering. A grown married manin his 50s, with two adult children, earning a six figure income, Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz is now relegated to a wheelchair and a bed for the remainder ofhislife. During the course of care and treatment provided to Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz by Defendants, Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz became septic, lost both his kidneys, and developed a stoma (an opening in the abdomen that does not close). Plaintiff Ortiz now requires daily extensive care to simply survive. His conditions are miserable and he would surely be dead if not for the full time care of his wife, family, and friends. Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz and his wife Plaintiff Donna Ortiz have brought claims against Dr. William Davis for negligence and Defendant OC Global Medical Center for corporate negligence. It should be noted that Plaintiff Leonard Ortiz wastreated at all relevant times at OC Global Medical Center where he would stay for overfive (5) months. OC Global Medical Center is not a long term care facility, but rather a general acute facility, and thus his stay was a clear violation of OC Global Medical Center’s internal policies. In an effort to discover information as to why these wrongs happened and why they were allowed to continue for so long, Plaintiffs have propounded discovery and served subpoenas. After serving nearly 100 requests for documents and 100 special interrogatories, Plaintiffs have received only scant, generic responses to Requests for Production and only objections to key Special Interrogatories. As such, and after multiple meet and confer attempts, Plaintiffs are forced to seek Court intervention. 3 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER A I T K E N 4 A I T K E N 4 C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 O O 0 0 ~ 1 O o un i B A w D -_ - = p d e e A N n n B R A W N = O O 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 9 2 7 0 7 D D N o N D N N N - _ - w h B O W L ON D = O O © c o D o A N 27 9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER IL. PLAINTIFFS HAVE EXHAUSTED THE MEET AND CONFER PROCESS TO NO AVAIL Plaintiffs served Request for Production, Set Two and Special Interrogatories, Set One on Defendant OC Global on November 10, 2017. Attached as Exhibit A, pleasefind Plaintiffs’ Requestfor Production, Set Two. Attached as Exhibit B, pleasefind Plaintiffs’ Special Interrogatories, Set One. On December 4, 2017, Defendant OC Global responded to Special Interrogatories, Set One with objections and no answers to 22 of 23 interrogatories. Attached as Exhibit C, please find Defendant's Responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One. Defendant OC Global responded to Requests for Production, Set Two on December 15, 2017, and objected entirely to all 53 requests while producing only one single document titled “Department of Surgery, Rules and Regulations.” Attached as Exhibit D, please find Defendant's Responses to Requestsfor Production Set Two. On January 2, 2018, and pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.010(1), Plaintiff sent Defendant OC Global an 11-page meet and confer letter. Attached as Exhibit E, please find Plaintiffs meet and confer letter dated January 2, 2018. Defendant responded on January 16, 2018, agreeing to supplement a handful of responses but continuing to object to the crux of the discovery requests. Attached as Exhibit F, pleasefind Defendant's meet and confer letter dated January 16, 2018. In response, on January 22, 2018, our office drafted a 2™ meet and confer letter to better focus on the discovery issues in dispute. Attached as Exhibit G, please find Plaintiffs meet and confer letter dated January 22, 2018. In response, Defendant OC Global provided supplemental responses to many of the Special Interrogatory requests, but very few of the essential Requests for Production. Attached as Exhibit H, pleasefind Defendant OC Global's supplemental responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One and Requestsfor Productions, Set Two. Defendant also provided a responsive meet and confer letter dated January 25, 2018. Attached as Exhibit 1, please find Defendant's meet and confer letter dated January 25, 2018. 4 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHE R RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDIC AL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF AT TICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER A I T K E N 4 A I T K E N 4 C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 © 0 0 1 O o w n B s Ww W N D F O A N L n R R W N = O 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 92 70 7 N O N N N N ND RD m e m es Gh BA WL W NN =~ © wv © = N o A N Ad €9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Pursuant to an agreement between Defendant’s counsel and Plaintiffs’ counsel, the time period to file the instant motion to compel wasextended to February 23, 2018. Attached as Exhibit J, please find the parties agreement extending the time to file any necessary motion. Unfortunately, much time has been spent trying to avoid Court intervention through but to no avail. As such, Plaintiffs bring the instant motion. III. DEFENDANT’S FAILURE TO PROPERLY RESPOND TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE, NOS., 11-13, 17, AND 18 A motion to compel lies where the party to whom the interrogatories were directed gave responses deemed improper by the propounding party; e.g. objections, or evasive or incomplete answers. Code ofCivil Procedure section 2030.030. Defendant provided boilerplate objections without proper basis to Nos. 11-13, 17, and 18. Plaintiffs’ interrogatories relate to simple names of members ofinternal hospital committees, and information related to prior civil actions against Defendant William Davis, which presumably, would have been checked “yes” or “no” when Defendant William Davis reapplied for privileges to work to at Defendant OC Global. Attached as Exhibit K, is a template re-application that must have beenfilled out by Dr. Davis during his tenure with Defendant OC Global. The Court will see on page 2-3, questions 1-12 asks whether a physician has had any disciplinary or other action taken against them. Interrogatories 17 and 18 relate to simple namesofpersons that Defendant OC Global believesis the “person most knowledgeable” so Plaintiffs can notice a proper deposition to further investigate this matter. Defendant provided nearly identical, boilerplate objections stating that the discovery sought was “overbroad as to scope and time and irrelevant as well as vague and ambiguous...” To accommodate Defendant’s concerns, Plaintiffs agreed to limit discovery to the past five (5) years and to only the time Defendant Davis had privileges at Defendant OC Global. See Exhibit G. 3 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER A I T K E N 4 A I T K E N + C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 N O 0 1 A N Un t R e L N J T y A N W n R A W N D = O 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 9 2 7 0 7 [\ ] n o [N S] N o N o N o - - B e w n E x w o N o - o o \ O 0 ~ N O O N 27 £9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER IV. CONCLUSION It is respectfully requested that this Court grant the instant motion in its entirety. Dated: February 22, 2018 AITKEN 4+ AITKEN+COHN RICHARD A. COHN ~ ATTICUS N. WEGMAN Attorney for Plaintiffs LEONARD ORTIZ and DONNA ORTIZ 6 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER A I T K E N 4 A I T K E N +4 C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 O O 0 3 O N w n R W N D - p t e d e d p d pe e A N W n B R A W N = O 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 9 2 7 0 7 N o N o N o N o [N S] \ © ) - - - w n E N W w [N o] P = [ a O o o R ~ J b A N Zi €9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER PROOF OF SERVICE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ORANGE I am employed in the County of Orange, State of California. I am over the age of 18 and not a party to the within action; my business addressis 3 MacArthur Place, Suite 800, Santa Ana, California, 92707. On February 23, 2018 I served the foregoing documents described as PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO SPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN; [PROPOSED] ORDER on the parties herein in this action by placing ( ) the original (x) a true copy thereofin a sealed envelope addressed as indicated on the attached service list. (X) BY MAIL (X) As follows: Iam "readily familiar" with the firm's practice of collection and processing correspondence for mailing. Under that practice it would be deposited with U.S. postal service on that same day with postage thereon fully prepaid at Santa Ana, California in the ordinary course of business. I am aware that on motion of the party served, service is presumed invalid if postal cancellation date OFpaste meter date is more than one day after date of deposit for mailing an affidavit. ( ) By Personal Service: I caused the above-referenced the document(s) to be delivered by hand to the attached addressees. ( ) By Overnight Courier: I caused the above-referenced document(s) to be delivered to an overnight courier service for delivery to the above address(es). ( ) By Facsimile Machine: I caused the above-referenced document(s) to be transmitted to the above-named persons at the following telephone number(s) see attached Proof of Service list. () By Email Transmission: I caused the above-referenced document(s) to be transmitted to the persons listed in the attached Proof of Service lists. Executed on February 23, 2018 at Santa Ana, California. (X) (State) I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws ofthe State of California that the above is true and correct. * 4, ”m LAncaltNy “ Kristin McCarthy 7 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TOSPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER;MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN;[PROPOSED] ORDER A I T K E N 4 A I T K E N 4+ C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 O W 0 ~1 3 O N w n W N = J S N o n B R W N = O 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E S A N T A A N A , C A 9 2 7 0 7 N o N D N o N o N D D D - - p t w n EE N 2 [N S] - < < \ O o o ~ N o A N 27 €9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER ORTIZ v. DAVIS, ET AL. SERVICE LIST Craig S. Dummit, Esq. Steven E. Kushner, Esq. Cameron D. Aronson, Esq. DUMMIT, BUCHOLZ & TRAPP 11755 Wilshire Blvd., 15th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90025-0944 (310) 479-0944 (310) 312-3836-fax Attorneys for Defendant Orange County Global Medical Center Terrence J. Schafer, Esq. DOYLE SCHAFER McMAHON, LLP 5440 Trabuco Road Irvine, CA 92620 (949) 727-7077 (949) 727-1284-fax Attorneys for Defendant William Davis, M.D. 8PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TOSPECIAL INTERROGATORIES FROM DEFENDANT OC GLOBAL MEDICAL CENTER;MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES; DECLARATION OF ATTICUS N. WEGMAN;[PROPOSED] ORDER %? PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER D o o o N o ~ n D A N N o w n r o = N o w o D N N o N o -_ - B O o o - \ O A I T K E N + A I T K E N + C O H N 3 M A C A R T H U R P L A C E , S U I T E 80 0 S A N T A A N A , C A 92 70 7 71 4- 43 4- 14 24 71 4- 43 4- 36 00 F A C S I M I L E - e h p m © ~ ~ a N w n = e Ww W - N o - - - o © O e N N n n B W p n d 1 PROOF OF SERVICE