Brewster v. Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center

Negligence-Duty to Third Parties

Brewster v. Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical
Center, No. 1-03-3192 (Ill. App. Ct. Sept. 19, 2005)

A motorist sued a hospital
after one of the hospital’s first-year resident physicians allegedly fell
asleep at the wheel of her car and struck the motorist. The physician had worked
34 hours of a 36 consecutive hour working shift at the hospital. The trial
court held that the hospital was not liable for an injury caused by one of
its off-duty doctors. The Appellate Court of Illinois addressed the question
of whether a hospital may owe a duty to a plaintiff injured by an off-duty
resident doctor who allegedly suffered sleep deprivation as a result of the
hospital’s policy on working hours. The court did not find such a duty and
refused to create such an exception to Illinois’ law that limits liability
to third parties.