CACI No. 506. Alternative Methods of Care

Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2023 edition)

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506.Alternative Methods of Care
[A/An] [insert type of medical practitioner] is not necessarily negligent just
because [he/she/nonbinary pronoun] chooses one medically accepted
method of treatment or diagnosis and it turns out that another medically
accepted method would have been a better choice.
New September 2003
Sources and Authority
• “A difference of medical opinion concerning the desirability of one particular
medical procedure over another does not . . . establish that the determination to
use one of the procedures was negligent.” (Clemens v. Regents of Univ. of
California (1970) 8 Cal.App.3d 1, 13 [87 Cal.Rptr. 108].)
• “Medicine is not a field of absolutes. There is not ordinarily only one correct
route to be followed at any given time. There is always the need for professional
judgment as to what course of conduct would be most appropriate with regard to
the patient’s condition.” (Barton v. Owen (1977) 71 Cal.App.3d 484, 501-502
[139 Cal.Rptr. 494].)
• This type of instruction may be important in arriving at a fair decision: “[I]n
determining whether defendants breached a standard of care owed decedent, the
jury may not engage in ‘but for’ reasoning.” (Meier v. Ross General Hospital
(1968) 69 Cal.2d 420, 435 [71 Cal.Rptr. 903, 445 P.2d 519].)
• “[I]n order for CACI No. 506 to be given, there must have been expert
testimony presented to the jury to the effect that a medical practitioner chose a
medically accepted method of diagnosis (or treatment) from among alternative
medically accepted methods of diagnosis (or treatment).” (Ayala v. Arroyo Vista
Family Health Center (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 1350, 1353 [73 Cal.Rptr.3d 486].)
Secondary Sources
3 Levy et al., California Torts, Ch. 31, Liability of Physicians and Other Medical
Practitioners, § 31.11 (Matthew Bender)
36 California Forms of Pleading and Practice, Ch. 415, Physicians: Medical
Malpractice, § 415.13 (Matthew Bender)
17 California Points and Authorities, Ch. 175, Physicians and Surgeons: Medical
Malpractice, § 175.34 (Matthew Bender)
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