A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles has overturned a jury's verdict awarding $1.5 million in damages and interest to horse owner-trainer Carlo Vaccarezza and his wife, Priscilla, who sued equine veterinarian Dr. Vincent Baker and his Equine Medical Center for negligence in a case dating back to 2014.
Judge Richard J. Burdge Jr. threw out the jury's Feb. 25, 2022, decision in a rarely used legal ruling, a Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV), stating that an expert witness retained by the plaintiffs had failed to establish that Baker fell short of the recognized standard of care expected of a licensed veterinarian in California at the time of the alleged negligence.
Lisa J. Brown, the attorney representing Baker, had filed for a JNOV ruling along with a motion for a new trial after the jury voted 11-1 that Baker failed “to use the level of skill, knowledge and care that other reasonably careful veterinarians would use in same or similar circumstances.”
Burdge affirmed the JNOV request and denied the motion for another trial. The case will now move to the Court of Appeal, said James Morgan, attorney for the Vaccarezzas. Instead of Baker filing an appeal over the jury's verdict, however, the Vaccarezzas will be appealing whether the judge overstepped his bounds when granting the JNOV motion.
The dispute involves Baker's care for the Vaccarezzas' Little Alexis leading up to the 2014 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. The filly developed a noticeable bump on her neck where a catheter had been placed to treat her with an anti-inflammatory, electrolytes and a vitamin jug. She also developed an elevated temperature of 103.2 degrees on the day before her race. Baker subsequently did bloodwork on Little Alexis that showed an elevated white blood cell count and a serum amyloid A test that registered an exceedingly high 2,534 against a normal range in horses of 0-15. Serum amyloid A test results can reflect inflammation or other health problems.
Baker did not convey the test results to Vaccarezza or anyone on his team at Santa Anita.
By the morning of Little Alexis' race, the bump and elevated temperature had responded to another anti-inflammatory and treatment with hot and cold compresses. Baker told Vaccarezza, “You'll be OK to run,” but Little Alexis performed poorly in the Breeders' Cup, beaten 9 ¼ lengths. She came out of the race, according to testimony, with an even higher fever of 104.7 and a bump on her neck that was larger than before.
Carlo Vaccarezza testified that the condition prevented him from sending Little Alexis to sell at a mixed sale two days later in Kentucky, where he had been led to believe by bloodstock experts the filly would bring $1.5 million or more. When she sold a year later for $440,000, the Vaccarezzas sued Baker and his clinic for the difference in the two prices. The jury agreed, awarding $1,060,000 in damages and just $500,000 in interest dating back to the date of the intended sale on Nov. 3, 2014.
In his ruling, Burdge called into question the testimony of the plaintiffs' expert witness, Dr. Michael Chovanes, pointing out that while he testified to being licensed in Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky and Maryland, he was not licensed in California and had never practiced in California.
Further, Burdge wrote in his order, Chovanes relayed opinions about his “personal practices” during testimony when asked about “standard of care” by a veterinarian receiving test results with extremely high serum amyloid A levels. Burdge reacted similarly to Chovanes' answer to a question about whether the “standard of care” would permit a horse with similar blood test results to run. Chovanes said he would “scratch the horse unequivocally.”
Burdge wrote: “(Chovanes) was never asked, and he did not testify, that essentially every 'veterinarian of ordinary skill and knowledge from the relevant community' would give that same answer or balance the risks and interests involved in the same way. If another qualified practitioner in the exercise of professional judgment might have answered that question differently, Dr. Chovanes' answer does not establish a standard to which any other practitioner must always adhere.”
While attorneys for both sides said an affirmative JNOV ruling is extremely rare, Burdge has been involved in at least one other case where he overturned a jury's verdict in a civil lawsuit. That involved a $71 million judgement against NBC Universal over how profits were distributed from the 1970s detective series, “Columbo.” In that case, decided in 2019, Burdge ordered a new trial. The Court of Appeal recently upheld that decision.
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