Member Stuart T. O’Neal received dismissals recently in two liability-related matters for hospitals belonging to the same health system client.
In the first case, the estate of a 54-year-old man alleged that a hospital emergency room (ER) was responsible for not diagnosing a cerebral vascular incident that caused his death three months after being admitted there with symptoms of increasing dizziness over a three-week period, nearly fainting at work, unilateral numbness and a history of hypertension. The plaintiff declared counts of wrongful death—vicarious liability, wrongful death—corporate liability and a Survival Act claim. On the eve of trial, the hospital was released from the case due in part to several summary judgments that mitigated many of the claims against the hospital itself, including corporate liability. The matter was eventually settled by the remaining parties.
The second case dealt with a professional liability/medical malpractice action. The plaintiffs, the parents of a little boy, alleged that their son suffered serious injuries over the course of delivery due to a hospital’s negligence. The firm’s health system client was included in the matter by virtue of a successor liability theory that was dismissed early in the litigation. The case continues to this day with the remaining defendants.