Malcolm v. Mount Vernon Hosp.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE / VICARIOUS LIABILITY

Malcolm
v. Mount Vernon Hosp.,
2003 WL 22456359 (N.Y. App. Div. Oct. 30, 2003)

A patient who suffered a stroke while an inpatient in a hospital sued his
primary physician, the consulting cardiologist and the hospital, alleging
malpractice
because he had not been given anticoagulants which would have prevented the
stroke. The hospital argued that the claims against it should be dismissed
because the
physicians involved in rendering the care were not employees. The New York
Supreme Court Appellate Division rejected the hospital’s argument that
it could not be
held vicariously liable, holding that the hospital had not met its burden of
proving that the patient could not have reasonably believed that the physicians
were acting on the hospital’s behalf or that the hospital was not responsible
for the alleged negligence of the physicians.