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2938 REVIEW GRANTED If the negligence of a doctor is a substantial factor in bringing about the death of a patient, the fact that the patient was already suffering from a disease from which s/he had less than a 50% chance of recovering does not prevent the doctor from being liable for wrongful death; plaintiffs who see a relative continuing to suffer because a doctor failed to recognize his/her own negligence in treating the relative have sufficient contemporaneous awareness of the infliction of injury to recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress, even though they did not witness the original negligence.
BIRD v SAENZ (Bad Catheter) 86 CA4 167 [See: Bromme v Pavitt 5 CA4 1487; Espinosa v Little 31 CA4 1304, T/AT 3/95; Hughey v Candoli 159 CA2 231; Werner v Blankfort (Depub) 36 CA4 298, T/AT 8/95; Thing v La Chusa 48 C3 644; Zuniga v Housing 41 CA4 82, T/AT 1/96]
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