Malpractice in Hospitals: Ten Theories for Direct Liability

See Wertham B. , Medical Malpractice Law; How Medicine is Changing the Law (Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass.) (1984) at 8 (liability of employer predicated on the fact that employee's actions are intended to advance interests of employer).

Darling v. Charleston Community Hospital, 211 N.E.2d 253 (Ill. 1965). See Southwick A. , The Hospital's New Responsibility, Cleveland Marshall Law Review 17(1): 146, 151–52 (January 1968) (corporate negligence differs from respondeat superior because it imposes on hospital nondelegable duty owed directly to patient and disregards details of doctor-patient relationship).

See Louisell I.D. Williams H. , Medical Malpractice (Matthew Bender, Inc., New York, N.Y.) (1974) at chap. XIII (discussion of statutes of limitations in malpractice).

211 N.E.2d 253 (Ill. 1965), cert. denied, 383 U.S. 946 (1966).

211 N.E.2d at 261.

Southwick A. , The Hospital as an Institution—Expanding Responsibilities Change Its Relationship with the Staff Physician, California Western Law Review 9(3); 429, 429 (Spring 1973); Curran W. J. , A Further Solution to the Malpractice Problem: Corporate Liability and Risk Management in Hospitals, New England Journal of Medicine 310(11): 704–05 (March 15, 1984).

Southwick , supra note 6; see also Lisko R. K. , Hospital Liability Under Theories of Respondeat Superior and Corporate Negligence, UMKC Law Review 47(1): 47 (Fall 1978); Note, Hospital Corporate Liability: An Effective Solution to Controlling Private Physician Incompetence, Rutgers Law Review 32(2): 32 (July 1979) (discussion and general background of the doctrine of corporate negligence).

See Southwick A. , Hospital Liability: Two Theories Have Been Merged, Journal of Legal Medicine 4(1): 4, (March 1983) (discussing vicarious and direct liability theories). See also Southwick, supra note 6.

186 S.E.2d 307, 309 (Ga. App. 1971) aff'd, 189 S.E.2d 412 (Ga. 1972); see also Corletto v Shore Memorial Hospital, 350 A.2d 534, 538 (N.J. Super, 1975) (hospital owes patient duty to admit only competent physicians to staff privileges and remove known incompetents from cases when problems become obvious); Ferguson v. Gonyaw. 236 N.W.2d 543 (Mich. App. 1975) (hospital has duty to use due care in the selection of staff physician).

Joiner, supra note 9, at 308.

Johnson v. Misericordia Community Hospital, 294 N.W.2d 501, 506-10 (Wis. App. 1980), aff'd, 301 N.W.2d 156 (Wis. 1981).

294 N.W.2d at 505.

Pedroza v. Bryant, 677 P.2d 166 (Wash. 1984).

Id. at 170.

Id. at 172.

Gonzales v. Nork, No. 228556 (Cal. Super Ct., Sacramento City 1973), rev'd on other grounds, 131 Cal. Rptr. 717 (Cal. App. 1971).

Elam v. College Park Hospital, 183 Cal. Rptr. 156 (Cal. App.), modified, 133 Cal. App.3d 94a (1982). See. also Bost v. Riley, 262 S.E.2d 391, 396 (N.C. App. 1980) (hospitals have a duty to make a reasonable effort to monitor and oversee the physicians practicing in the hospital); Purcell v. Zimbelman, 500 P.2d 335, 341–42 (Ariz. App. 1972) (hospital liable for surgery department's inability to supervise competence of staff doctors); Moore v. Board of Trustees of Carson-Tahoe Hospital, 495 P.2d 605, 606–07 (Nev.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 879 (1972) (hospitals have a duty to review and delineate staff privileges).

183 Cal. Rptr. at 161.

Id. at 165.

Principles of Hospital Liability, Hospital Law Manual (Aspen Systems, Rockville. Md.) (1983) §3-1.

Emory University v. Porter, 120 S.E.2d 668, 670 (Ga. App. 1961).

Id.

Hernandez v. Smith, 552 F.2d 142 (5th Cir. 1977).

Id. at 144.

Id.

Id. at 145, quoting Medical & Surgical Memorial Hospital v. Cauthorn, 229 S.W.2d 932, 934 (Tex. Civ. App. 1949).

Darling, supra note 2, at 257 (regulations, standards and bylaws perform same function as evidence of custom). See also Johnson v. St. Bernard Hospital, 399 N.E.2d 198, 205 (Ill. App. 1975) (a hospital's bylaws are evidence of the standard of care); Johnson, supra note 11, at 510 (hospital's incorporation of state administrative code into hospital bylaws admissible to show compliance).

Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, 1983 (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, Chicago, Ill.) (1982) at 80 (Standard II).

See Darling, supra note 2, at 257.

Id. at 257.

Kakligian v. Henry Ford Hospital, 210 N.W.2d 463, 467 (Mich. 1973)

Id. at 467.

See Keene v. Methodist Hospital, 324 F. Supp. 233 (N.D. Ind. 1971).

Id.

Id. at 234–35.

Id. at 235.

Accreditation Manual, supra note 28, at 80.

Polischeck v. United States, 535 F. Supp. 1261 (E.D. Pa. 1982).

Id. at 1263. See Pa. Stat. Ann. tit. 63 §421.3 (1983) (unlawful for any physician's assistant to render medical care and services except under the supervision and direction of the supervising physician).

Polischeck, supra note 38, at 1270–71.

Ravenis v. Detroit General Hospital, 234 N.W.2d 411 (Mich. App. 1975).

Id. at 414.

Accreditation Manual, supra note 28, at 79.

Hamburger v. Henry Ford Hospital, 284 N.W.2d 155 (Mich. App. 1979).

See Mich. Comp. Laws Ann § 691.1502 (1983) (exemption for physicians, nurses and other hospital employees from liability when voluntarily assisting in an emergency situation).

Id. at 158.

See Vogel J. Delgado R. , To Tell The Truth: Physician's Duty to Disclose Medical Mistakes, U.C.L.A. Law Review 28(1): 28 (October 1980) (discussion of imposing a duty to disclose malpractice on physicians and on the entire treatment team).

Krueger v. St. Joseph's Hospital, 305 N.W.2d 18 (N.D. 1981).

Id. at 25.

Id.

Id.

See Vogel Delgado , supra note 47 at 69–71.

Nutty v. Jewish Hospital, 571 F. Supp. 1050 (S.D. Ill. 1983).

Id. at 1052.

Id. at 1053.