Court Rules That State’s Medical Malpractice Act Can Apply to Nonpatients
By Ann W. Latner
Indiana's Supreme Court was recently asked to rule on whether the state's Medical Malpractice Act apply to claims filed against providers for people who were not patients of the provider, but who were harmed by the provider's alleged negligence in providing medical care to another individual. The Act defines a "patient" as "an individual who receives or should have received health care from a health care provider, under a contract, express or implied, and includes a person having a claim of any kind, whether derivative or otherwise, as a result of alleged malpractice on the part of the health care provider." The court held that a statutory "patient" based on that language is either a traditional patient who has a clinician-patient relationship with a healthcare provider, or a third party with a claim against a healthcare provider under state law. The second part of the description in the Act describes "a person having a claim of any kind … as a result of alleged malpractice on the part of a health care provider." The case in question was filed by the husband and father of two individuals who were killed in a car crash when a woman who had been prescribed opioids was driving and found herself unable to lift her foot off the car's accelerator at an intersection and crashed into the other two individuals' vehicle, which had the right of way. The woman, who also died as a result of her injuries the crash, was found to have opiates in her system that had been prescribed by her doctor. The plaintiff filed a suit against the doctor, claiming medical malpractice. He alleged the doctor breached the standard of care to the woman by not warning her of the risks of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of the prescription drug; failing to screen her for cognitive impairment caused by the prescription drugs; and failing to adjust her prescriptions to resolve issues with muscle control. These failures, said the plaintiff, led to the wrongful deaths of his wife and daughter. While the doctor ultimately settled with the plaintiff, the plaintiff later filed a lawsuit seeking excess damages from the state's Patient's Compensation Fund. The case was ultimately brought before the state's highest court to resolve the issue of medical malpractice under the Medical Malpractice Act and nonpatients.
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