Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hosp. case brief

Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hosp. case brief summary
211 N.E.2d 253 (1965)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant appealed the judgment of the Appellate Court for the Fourth District (Illinois) that upheld the jury's award of damages against defendant for alleged negligent hospital treatment.

CASE FACTS
Plaintiff broke his leg and was treated at defendant's emergency room. His leg was put in a cast, but the cast cut off his circulation and he lost part of his leg. Plaintiff sued defendant for negligent hospital treatment and was awarded damages. Standards for hospital accreditation and the state licensing regulations demonstrated that the medical profession regarded it as both desirable and feasible that a hospital assume certain responsibilities for the care of the patient, contrary to defendant's assertion.

DISCUSSION

• The court found a jury could reasonably find negligence because the nurses did not test for circulation in the leg as frequently as necessary, that skilled nurses would have promptly recognized those conditions, and would have known that the condition would become irreversible in hours and informed the attending physician or hospital authorities. 
• There was no dispute that defendant failed to review the doctor's work or require a consultation and a jury could have reasonably found that a failure to do so was a negligent act. 
• Furthermore, defendant was not unfairly surprised by plaintiff's amendments to the complaint because the same theory was asserted at pretrial.

CONCLUSION
The intermediate appellate court's judgment that affirmed the jury's finding of negligent hospital treatment and their award of damages was affirmed since a reasonable jury could have found negligent hospital treatment when defendant's nurses did not test for circulation in the broken leg as frequently as necessary or because defendant failed to review the doctor's work or require a consultation.



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