Radiology practice dodges $187,000 malpractice payout after hospital partner had sought indemnity
An Indiana radiology group has prevailed in court after its hospital partner attempted to hang a $187,000 judgment on the practice, citing an indemnity provision in their contract.
The long-running court battle dates back a decade, when Joseph Shaughnessy received two CT scans at a Franciscan Alliance hospital. Outside rads from Lake Imaging interpreted the images, but allegedly overlooked bleeding on the right side of the man’s brain. He later died and his sons filed a medical malpractice suit against the hospital system, unaware that the rads were not employees.
In 2015, the sides reached a $187,000 settlement and Franciscan sought protection from the payment, citing an indemnity clause in its 2004 agreement with Lake Imaging. The practice balked, later arguing its hospital partner failed to bring the claim within the two-year statute of limitation for medical malpractice, the Indiana Lawyer reported May 4.
The local court of appeals this week sided with the radiologists, agreeing that the state’s Medical Malpractice Act does extend beyond the patient-provider relationship. Judge Nancy Vaidik noted that the legislation specifically uses the word “claimant,” rather than “patient,” opening the door to Lake Imaging’s interpretation.
“These provisions leave us convinced the legislature did not intend to limit the [Medical Malpractice Act’s] coverage to the ‘typical’ medical-malpractice action—one brought by an injured patient or the representative of an injured patient,” Vaidik, who is chief judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals, wrote Tuesday. “Rather, the language of these statutes is broad enough to include an indemnification claim by one healthcare provider against another healthcare provider, if the claim is based on the alleged medical negligence of the latter.”
You can read more about the decision from the Indiana Lawyer below, or find the full 15-page opinion here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.