Remy v. Alameda Health System CA1/4

Filed 11/5/21 Remy v. Alameda Health System CA1/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

DEANA MICHELLE REMY, Plaintiff and Appellant, A161518 v. ALAMEDA HEALTH SYSTEM, (Alameda County Super. Ct. No. RG19030848) Defendant and Respondent.

Plaintiff Deana Michelle Remy filed the present action against defendant Alameda Health System after her tooth was allegedly damaged during an appointment for a teeth cleaning at the Highland Hospital dental clinic. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff failed to produce evidence that any of defendant’s dentists damaged her tooth. Although plaintiff has twice failed to submit an appellate brief in compliance with the California Rules of Court, we have reviewed the record from the trial court and confirmed that summary judgment was properly granted. We therefore affirm the judgment. Background In August 2019, plaintiff filed an amended complaint seeking $1.8 million in damages for an injury allegedly caused by the negligence of a dentist at the Highland Hospital dental clinic. Her complaint alleges that during an appointment for a general teeth cleaning on February 11, 2019, she

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“heard a cracking sound and felt something sharp hit the back of [her] throat.” When she returned home later that morning, she realized it was part of her front tooth. A “week or two” later she fainted, and because the remaining tooth “was so sharp[,] it went straight through [her] lip.” She “was in trauma for about 3 days until the medicine a doctor at Western Dental prescribed . . . took [e]ffect.” As a result of her injury, her face is allegedly disfigured and she can no longer work as a model. In July 2020, defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. The motion was based on the following assertedly undisputed facts: Plaintiff had been treated as a patient at the dental clinic at Highland Hospital since 2015. As relevant to her present claim, plaintiff was seen by Molly Weber, D.D.S. on August 8, 2018. According to her medical records, Weber performed a general cleaning at that time. The medical records contain no notation regarding an injury to her front tooth. On February 11, 2019, plaintiff was seen by Robert Fung, D.D.S. No cleaning was performed on that date as she was not yet due for a cleaning. Fung recommended plaintiff return for a cleaning in August 2019. On March 29, 2019, plaintiff was seen by a dentist at Western Dental Services, Inc. (Western Dental) and underwent a complete oral examination. According to the Western Dental medical records, plaintiff asked to have her lower lip and front tooth checked because when her teeth were last cleaned at the Highland Hospital dental clinic, her “tooth went inside her lip.” Defendant’s dental expert reviewed plaintiff’s medical records from both the Highland Hospital dental clinic and Western Dental and opined that both Weber and Fung complied with the standard of care and no act or omission on their part caused any injury to plaintiff. He concluded that, contrary to plaintiff’s claims, “there was no injury that occurred to [plaintiff]