Fiederlein v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corp.

| NY | Mar 30, 1982

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.

The evidence was insufficient to form the basis for a jury award of damages for conscious pain and suffering. Mere conjecture, surmise or speculation is not enough to sustain a claim for damages. There was no direct proof of the cause of the decedent’s death and, more importantly, there was no proof of conscious pain and suffering in connection with that death. Moreover, we find the record to be insufficient to support a finding that decedent experienced increased pain while at the hospital as a proximate result of the treatment which he received.

Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Meyer concur.

Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.