Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New York
A general practitioner misdiagnosed a condition and the patient was rushed to the emergency room several days later. The general practitioner - who was not an employee of the hospital - was called in and preformed the corrective surgery himself. The surgery was preformed negligently and the patient suffered sever injury as a result. Can the hospital be found liable under a legal theory other than respondeat superior which is seemingly not an option as the doctor was not an employee of the hospital?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Nope, I don't see a basis for liability on the hospital unless a nurse fell short of the standard of care, or if you can show negligent failure to train the physician. Though I would plead it anyway, on the theory that by permitting the careless physician to perform the surgery the hospital might beheld in for direct negligence, but it's a stretch, Doesn't the surgeon have enough coverage? Ah. there's an angle: permitting a financially irrresponsible surgeon to use the operating room. Might not be valid but I would plead it, shake the tree, and contact the Board of Auditors with jurisdiction over the hospital's head of surgery.
Much depends on what departure from the standard of care took place and the injury.
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