Pope v. Elder’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 state decisions

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 2 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The medical testimony here indicated that Mrs. Pope’s breast cancer could not have been prevented or cured. Her cancer had spread to other parts of her body, but the medical testimony established only the statistical estimate that, with treatment, she would have survived about two years longer. There was no testimony that Dr. Elder’s mistake proximately caused her death. Indeed, while the medical data on breast cancer prognosis and treatment here are statistical, they do not point to any specific conduct of Dr. Elder as the proximate cause. See McAfee [v. Baptist Med. Ctr.], 641 So.2d [265] at 267-68 [ (Ala.1994) ]. Hence, there is nothing to show that Dr. Elder’s conduct probably caused Mrs. Pope’s death. As the trial court stated in entering the summary judgment: “ ‘Although there is generalized testimony based on statistical data that the ability to treat a patient improves with early diagnosis, this testimony does not rebut [Dr. Elder’s] expert testimony that even if Mrs. Pope had received in 1986 the treatment later received in 1988 such treatment would have had no effect on her ability to survive.... Plaintiffs own experts offer no opinion concerning whether Dr. Elder’s failure to make an earlier diagnosis of a positive lymph node either lessened [her] chances of survival or worsened her condition. Plaintiffs brief asserts that Mrs. Pope’s cancer spread to her liver as a likely result of the missed diagnosis, but no evidence supports the assertion. Accordingly, no subs”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hrynkiw v. Trammell

2. “"Although there is a generalized testimony based on statistical data that the ability to treat a patient improve with any diagnosis, this testimony does not rebut the Defendant's expert testimony that even if Mrs. Pope had received in 1986 the treatment later received in 1988 such treatment would have had no effect on her [emphasis in original] ability to survive. Plaintiff's own experts, offer no opinion concerning whether Dr. Elder's failure to make an earlier diagnosis of a positive lymph node either lessened [ her ] chances of survival or worsened her condition. Plaintiff's brief asserts that Mrs. Pope's cancer spread to her liver as a likely result of the missed diagnosis, but no evidence supports the assertion. Accordingly, no substantial evidence or even a scintilla of evidence suggests that Mrs. Pope's death was proximately caused by the missed diagnosis."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 729 So. 2d 319 - Shanes v. Kiser

3. “that the Popes presented no expert testimony that his failure to identify the malignant cells in one of Mrs. Pope's lymph nodes was the proximate cause of her death.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 729 So. 2d 319 - Shanes v. Kiser