EVIDENCE-HEARSAY-ADMISSIBILITY OF HISTORY STATEMENTS IN HOSPITAL RECORD UNDER BUSINESS ENTRIES STATUTE

Authors

Ralph E. Hunt, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Plaintiff sued for injuries allegedly resulting when the door of defendant's bus closed on plaintiff's ankle as he was attempting to board the bus, throwing him to the ground. Defendant offered in evidence, under the Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act, in effect in Delaware, hospital records containing the entry: "Patient states he twisted ankle while walking along the street." The interne who treated plaintiff and qualified the records had no independent recollection of the statement. On appeal from judgment for defendant, held, the record was properly admitted, although no witness could testify of his own memory that he heard the statement made. A statement is made within the regular course of business as required by the statute only if it is so related to the injury as to facilitate prompt and intelligent diagnosis and treatment. Here the statement was "pathologically germane" as an indication of the nature of the injury. Watts v. Delaware Coach Co., (Del. 1948) 58 A. (2d) 689.

Recommended Citation

Ralph E. Hunt, EVIDENCE-HEARSAY-ADMISSIBILITY OF HISTORY STATEMENTS IN HOSPITAL RECORD UNDER BUSINESS ENTRIES STATUTE, 47 Mich. L. Rev. 124 (1948).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol47/iss1/19