WILLIAMS VENKER & SANDERS NEWS

WVS Partner Lucy Unger received Summary Judgment on behalf of a local hospital in a medical malpractice suit filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court.  The suit involved the death of a local businessman two months after he was evaluated in the hospital's emergency room with swelling around his airway as a result of an allergic reaction.

Plaintiffs claimed the hospital was liable for the negligence of the emergency room physician for failing to identify the cause of the patient's allergic reaction and for failing to prescribe an Epi-pen in the event the patient suffered a second attack.  Two months after the patient's ER visit, the patient did suffer a second attack and died the same day.

In granting summary judgment for the hospital, the Court agreed that plaintiff had not produced evidence that the emergency room physician was the hospital's employee, and that plaintiff failed to prove that the actions of any hospital employee breached the standard of care or caused the patient's death.