Larson v. Wasemiller

MALPRACTICE – CORPORATE NEGLIGENCE

Larson v. Wasemiller, No. C6-03-293
(Minn. Dist. Ct. June 29, 2005)

A patient
asserted a negligent credentialing claim, which the hospital sought to dismiss,
arguing that Minnesota had never recognized a common law cause of action
based on negligent credentialing or privileging. The District Court of Minnesota
denied the hospital’s motion, recognizing a new cause of action for a professional
tort against a hospital for negligent privileging and credentialing. The court
found that a hospital had a duty to exercise reasonable care when making credentialing
decisions, and also recognized that a majority of other jurisdictions have
recognized a similar cause of action. The court went on to find that Minnesota’s
peer review statute did not grant immunity or limit the liability of hospitals
for a claim based on a negligent privileging or credentialing decision.