Heinrich v. Sweet H H Md’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[t]o make out a claim for wrongful death on a negligence theory, a plaintiff must show that the defendant’s negligence caused the plaintiff to die prematurely. Harlow v. Chin, 405 Mass. 697 , 545 N.E.2d 602, 605 (1989) (“A plaintiff in a medical malpractice action has the burden of proving that the physician’s negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiffs injuries.”). Defendants dispute their liability for wrongful death by focusing on this causation element.... [W]here the plaintiffs were terminally ill and death was imminent, plaintiffs must show that the defendant’s actions hastened death “even though it would have occurred at no very remote date from, other causes.” Edwards v. Warwick, 317 Mass. 573 , 59 N.E.2d 194, 196 (1945); see also Coburn v. Moore, 320 Mass. 116 , 68 N.E.2d 5, 10 (1946) (holding that there was “enough to show a causal relation between the negligence of the defendant and the death of the intestate” where the defendant’s actions “accelerated [intestate’s] death”); Walker v. Gage, 223 Mass. 179 , 111 N.E. 766 , 767 (1916) (holding that evidence that the accident hastened intestate’s death was “enough legally to constitute the accident the proximate cause of his death”).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 889 F. Supp. 2d 292 - Petro v. Town of West Warwick ex rel. Moore