The child has ingested A large quantity of aspirin

The father of a small child takes the child to an emergency room and tells the attendants that the child has ingested a large quantity of aspirin. The attendants specifically tell the father to advise the physician of this fact but the father fails to make mention of it. The physician diagnoses the child as having the flu. The child dies shortly thereafter, and the parents sue the physician for negligence.

Should the parents be able to recover? What defense might the physician raise? Hudson v. St. Paul Mercury Insurance Co., 219 So. 2d 524 (La. 1969).