Hogan v. Sacred Heart Med. Ctr.

CORPORATE
LIABILITY

Hogan v. Sacred Heart Med. Ctr., 94 P.3d 390 (Wash. Ct. App. July
15, 2004)

A
patient won a jury award for over $7 million after suing her anesthesiologist
and the medical center at which he worked. The patient had been injured by
the anesthesiologist’s accidental insertion of an interscalene block into
her spinal cord. The jury concluded that the anesthesiologist was an apparent
agent of the medical center. Interestingly, the jury also concluded that the
medical center should be vicariously liable for the anesthesiologist’s negligence
because its employed CRNA, who was administering the patient’s general anesthesia,
failed to prevent harm to the patient.