Case Name: James J. Callahan, Jr., administrator, vs. Longwood Hospital, Inc.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Decision Date: 1965-06-03
Citations: 349 Mass. 761
Docket Number: 
Parties: James J. Callahan, Jr., administrator, vs. Longwood Hospital, Inc.
Judges: 
Reporter: Massachusetts Reports
Volume: 349
Pages: 761–761

Head Matter:
James J. Callahan, Jr., administrator, vs. Longwood Hospital, Inc.
John F. Dunn for the defendant.
Joseph J. Hurley (Thomas F. Cargill, Jr., with him) for the plaintiff-,
June 3, 1965.

Opinion:
Exceptions overruled. The plaintiff's wife, the intestate, suffered and died from the transfusion of incompatible blood at the defendant private hospital following surgery performed there. On the evidence the jury could find that the transfusion of incompatible blood is attended by grave danger to the patient, that the cross matching of the donated blood with the patient's blood to determine compatibility is an essential preliminary step to a transfusion, that there was a failure by the defendant's employees to cross match the intestate's blood with the donated blood, and that this failure constituted negligence. There was no error in denying the defendant's motion for a directed verdict.