A $1 million veterinary malpractice action decided in favor of Priscilla and Carlo Vaccarezza by a Los Angeles jury has been set aside by the trial judge.
Los Angeles Superior Court Richard J. Burdge Jr ordered late last week to grant a Judgment Notwithstanding, known in legal circles as JNOV, to defendants Dr. Vince Baker and Equine Medical Center.
The lawsuit focuses on Baker’s pre-race handling of Little Alexis 9th place in the DraftKings Breeders ‘Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita . Park. At the time, she was only 3 years old and had entered the race for third place in the Test Round (G1) at Racecourse Saratoga and fourth in Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Racing Parx. Carlo Vaccarezza coached her for Priscilla Vaccarezza Racing.
According to court records, Baker, a veterinarian practicing in Southern California, was accused of failing to properly assess Little Alexis for a tumor on her jugular vein prior to the race. A previous BloodHorse report noted her serum amyloid status A pre-racial blood test was elevated with a reading of 2,534, a sign of inflammation and infection. The jury heard evidence that Baker failed to inform Vaccarezzas of the test results before the Breeders’ Cup race.
Little Alexis is active in 2015
She then became so ill that she could not be brought to the November Sale at Fasig-Tipton in 2014 as planned. From April to June 2015, she competed in four non-ranked races at Gulfstream Park, wins the Even handicap. It was later sold for $440,000 in November 2015 at Fasig-Tipton.
The jury found that Baker was negligent in not using the level of skill, knowledge, and care that other reasonably careful veterinarians would use in similar or similar circumstances. and his negligence was an important factor in the damage. The judgment came in at $1.06 million, the difference reflecting Little Alexis’ assessed 2014 value of $1.5 million and the amount of her sale the following year.
The JNOV is tied to the testimony of Dr. Michael Chavones, a veterinarian licensed in four states but not California who served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. He testified that Baker should have informed Vaccarezzas of the blood test results and that baby Alexis should have been scratched during the Filly & Mare Sprint.
To win a case of veterinary, medical or legal malpractice, the claimant must establish authoritative evidence of the appropriate standard of care to be expected by the professional under the actual circumstances contained in the case. work, demonstrate that the standard of care was violated, and demonstrate that the violation was an underlying factor in the harm.
In the JNOV order, Burdge wrote at length about what he considered a legal omission in Chavones’ testimony in a direct examination of the standard of care that Baker should have followed. Burdge essentially concluded that Chavones’ testimony never established the standard of care, only what he would have done under the circumstances.
In California, when a trial judge considers a JNOV motion, all the evidence supporting the jury’s decision must be deemed true, the judge cannot substitute his or her opinion to do so. Evidence for testimony and conflicting evidence must be considered against the losing party. The issue is whether the winning party’s evidence constitutes a preliminary case as a matter of law. A preliminary action is a case in which sufficient legal facts are demonstrated to support a favorable judgment.
Carlo Vaccarezza
Applying these principles, a JNOV should only be granted if it emerges from the evidence, considered in the best interest of the prevailing party, that the case must not be a matter of law and that is how Burdge judges. decide.
As previously reported by BloodHorse, Baker, the lead defendant, is said to have prescribed the application of Otomax to Medina Spirit Prepared before the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The cream contains betamethasone, which the administrators ruled was not allowed on race day when they disqualified Medina Spirit from his win. Baker was also among several veterinarians submitted to the California Veterinary Health Commission late last year.
Burdge’s JNOV ruling means the trial court case is closed, leaving appeal as Vaccarezzas’ next avenue of relief in the protracted case.
The case, filed in October 2015, has at least three judges presiding over the trial, and has been delayed multiple times, including after Hurricane Irma hit South Florida, where Vaccarezzas resided at the time. there; the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, where their two sons were students and were not injured; and government restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was finally brought to trial on February 8, 2022, and now it remains unresolved.
