Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
May 29, 2009 Marilyn Kelly,
Chief Justice
138033 Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
ROYCE WILCOXSON-BEY, by Next Friend Maura D. Corrigan
Robert P. Young, Jr.
PEPPER WILCOXSON-BEY, and ROXY Stephen J. Markman
WILCOXSON-BEY, a Stillborn Child, by Diane M. Hathaway,
PEPPER WILCOXSON-BEY, Personal Justices
Representative, and PEPPER WILCOXSON-
BEY, Individually,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v SC: 138033
COA: 279146
Wayne CC: 05-524008-NH
PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL & MEDICAL
CENTERS, INC.,
Defendant-Appellee,
and
DEBRA WRIGHT, M.D., and ST. JOHN
HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC.,
Defendants.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the December 11, 2008
judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), in
lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals and
REINSTATE the Wayne Circuit Court’s order denying the defendant’s motion for
summary disposition with regard to causation. When the record is reviewed in its
entirety, there was sufficient evidence presented to demonstrate that daily fetal
monitoring is effective in the vast majority of cases in detecting cord compression and
fetal distress – which are events that precede cord occlusion and that signal the need for
intervention to prevent injury. The actual timing of the occlusion itself is not relevant to
the question of whether it is more likely than not that daily fetal monitoring would have
discovered cord compression and fetal distress. We therefore REMAND this case to the
Court of Appeals for consideration of the other issues raised by the defendant that were
not addressed in its opinion.
CORRIGAN, J., would grant leave to appeal or hold oral argument on the
application.
I, Corbin R. Davis, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
May 29, 2009 _________________________________________
d0526 Clerk