TORT LIABILITY OF HOSPITALS
Authors: Austin Wakeman Scott
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1943)

Article1 April 1943TORT LIABILITY OF HOSPITALSAUSTIN WAKEMAN SCOTTAUSTIN WAKEMAN SCOTTSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-18-4-630 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptMany are the situations in which the activities of a hospital may cause damage to someone, who thereupon brings an action for tort against the hospital. An action for tort is a civil proceeding brought by the complaining person to recover damages from the person or corporation charged with causing the injury. The injury may be to the person of the plaintiff or to his property. We are not concerned with the liability of the individual who caused the injury but only with that of the hospital itself. We are not concerned with liability for breach of contracts made by...1 Farrigan v. Pevear, 193 Mass. 147, 149, 78 N.E. 855 (1906). Google Scholar2 Hearns v. Waterbury Hospital, 66 Conn. 98, 123, 125, 33 Atl. 595, 603, 604 (1895). Google Scholar3 President and Directors of Georgetown College v. Hughes, 130 F. (2d) 810, 827, 828 (App. D.C. 1942). In this case Judge Rutledge drew the following conclusions as to the state of the law in the various states, recognizing, however, that it is difficult in some of the states to determine the precise rule there prevailing. Full immunity, except perhaps for administrative negligence or in special cases: Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Wisconsin. Full liability: District of Columbia, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, and probably Oklahoma. Also England, Canada and New Zealand. Recovery by strangers and paying patients but possibly not charity patients: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, Utah. Recovery by strangers but not patients: Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington. No recovery by patients but no decisions as to strangers: Arizona, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, West Virginia, Wyoming. Liability if protected by insurance: Colorado, Tennessee. No decisions: Delaware, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont. For a collection of cases on the liability of hospitals, see 49 A.L.R. 379 (1927). As to the liability of charitable corporations in general, see 14 A.L.R., 572 (1921), 23 A.L.R. 923 (1923), 30 A.L.R. 455 (1924), 33 A.L.R. 1369 (1924), 42 A.L.R. 971 (1926), 62 A.L.R. 724 (1928), 86 A.L.R. 491 (1933), 109 A.L.R. 1199 (1937), 124 A.L.R. 814 (1940), 133 A.L.R. 821 (1941). See Scott, Trusts (1939, Supp. 1942) § 402. Google Scholar4 Schloendorff v. New York Hospital, 211 N.Y. 125, 131, 132, 105 N.E. 92, 94 (1914). Google Scholar5 Fisher v. Sydenham Hospital, Inc., 176 Misc. 7, 26 N.Y.S. (2d) 389 (1941). Google Scholar6 Stanhope v. Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, 128 P. (2d) 705 (Cal. App. 1942). Google Scholar7 See Levy v. Superior Court, 74 Cal. App. 171, 239 Pac. 1100 (1925); Williams' Adm'x v. Church Home, 223 Ky. 355, 3 S.W. (2d) 753 (1928); Enman v. Trustees of Boston University, 270 Mass. 299, 170 N.E. 43 (1930); Mississippi Baptist Hospital v. Moore, 156 Miss. 676, 126 So. 465 (1930); Herndon v. Massey, 217 N.C. 610, 8 S.E. (2d) 914 (1940). Google Scholar8 O'Connor v. Boulder Colorado Sanitarium Ass'n, 105 Colo. 259, 96 P. (2d) 835 (1939); Vanderbilt University v. Henderson, 23 Tenn. App. 135, 127 S.W. (2d) 284 (1938). See Lusk v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 199 So. 666 (La. 1941). Google Scholar9 President and Trustees of the University of Louisville v. Metcalfe, 216 Ky. 339, 287 S.W. 945 (1926). See a note in 49 A.L.R. 379 (1927) on liability of hospital maintained at expense of state or a political subdivision for torts of its officers or employees. Google Scholar10 Rudy v. Lakeside Hospital, 115 Ohio St. 539, 155 N.E. 126 (1926). Google Scholar11 Wattman v. St. Luke's Hospital Ass'n, 314 Ill. App. 244, 41 N.E. (2d) 314 (1942); Roosen v. Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, 235 Mass. 66, 126 N.E. 392 (1920). Google Scholar12 Kestner v. Homeopathic Medical and Surgical Hospital, 245 Pa. 326, 91 Atl. 659 (1914). Google Scholar13 Deaconess Home and Hospital v. Bontjes, 207 Ill. 553, 69 N.E. 748 (1904); Herr v. Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum, 97 Ky. 458, 30 S.W. 971 (1895), 110 Ky. 282, 61 S.W. 283 (1901). Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Cambridge, Massachusetts*Received for publication January 28, 1943.†Dane Professor of Law, Harvard University. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 1 April 1943Volume 18, Issue 4Page: 630-636 ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 April 1943 PDF downloadLoading ...