Court Opinion

ID: 9694541
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:45:57.285904+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:03.136146
License: Public Domain

WATHEN, Justice,
with whom ROBERTS and GLASSMAN, JJ., join, dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent. I agree that the Superior Court erred in dismissing plaintiffs’ medical malpractice action, but I am unable to agree that we nevertheless should dispose of plaintiffs’ complaint by granting summary judgment.
Mrs. Hanusek states in her affidavit that she and her husband experienced a significant period of delay in receiving treatment in the emergency room. She describes her discussions with the attending physician and the supervising nurse as follows:
When Dr. Meadows told me how serious a heart attack John had, I said “you mean to tell me that we waited more than one and a half hours before even *638being seen while my husband was having a heart attack in your waiting room?” I was very upset. Dr. Meadows asked me more questions about how long wé waited and then changed the subject.
The next day while I was visiting my husband in intensive care a nurse who identified herself as a Southern Maine Medical Center “ICU Supervisor” called me into her office. She told me that I was being unfair and that I should take my problem out on the “emergency room services.” I then told her that “I should have an attorney on this.” The nurse then told me that “If you get an attorney your husband’s name will be placed on a computer and all the doctors and hospitals in this area will know about him and no one will take him on as a patient.”
Mrs. Hanusek states that she and her husband refrained from seeking legal advice until they read a newspaper account of a suit brought against the hospital for a failure to treat a heart attack. Only at that point did they approach an attorney.
The Court holds as a matter of law that a patient who had just suffered a severe coronary and faced the need for continued medical treatment could not reasonably rely upon the warning given by the nursing supervisor. I fear the Court presumes too much. I would join in vacating the dismissal, but I find a genuine issue of fact is presented and I would not order the granting of summary judgment.