Practice can be held liable for deadly on-call interventional radiologist delay, appeals court rules
A Massachusetts radiology group can be held liable for failing to have an interventional radiologist on-call, allegedly leading to a patient’s death, according to a recent ruling.
Appeals court judges issued the decision Oct. 24, reversing a lower court’s previous recommendations. Worcester-based Saint Vincent Radiological Associates had sought a summary judgment, avoiding a jury trial in the matter, but the case will now move toward that conclusion.
Duane C. Brown visited Saint Vincent Hospital’s emergency department Dec. 21, 2011, complaining of neck discomfort. He was discharged with an order for pain medication and a cortisol injection. However, the 61-year-old returned Dec. 24 with persisting neck pain, difficulty breathing and severe abdominal soreness.
He was diagnosed with an inflamed and infected gallbladder, and the attending surgeon, Catherine Martone, ordered a percutaneous cholecystostomy to drain the organ and stabilize Brown for surgery. However, the on-call interventional radiology service was not available for the next three days. About six hours after he had arrived, providers transferred the patient to nearby UMass Memorial in Worcester, where he died from the infection.
His widow, Dolores M. Brown, sued Martone and others, later amending the complaint to include the hospital and Saint Vincent Radiological Associates, which it contracts to provide diagnostic and interventional imaging services. Claims against the hospital and individual defendants have already been settled, Law.com reported Monday. However, the radiology group had argued that the previous court ruling was correct. It contended that SVRA only had a contractual obligation to provide services to Saint Vincent Hospital, with no legal duty to perform a cholecystostomy on Duane Brown.
Appeals court judges disagreed.
“Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, under SVRA's contract with Saint Vincent, SVRA effectively agreed to act as Saint Vincent's radiology department. Accordingly, it assumed the duty to provide medical treatment consistent with the standard of care in the practice of radiology," Associate Justice Gregory I. Massing wrote for the three-judge panel, according to Law.com. "That common-law duty included whatever duty the radiology department of an acute-care hospital with an emergency unit owes to the hospital's patients."
You can read the entire ruling here and find full coverage from Law.com at the link below (subscription required).
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.