Johnson v. Bishof – March 2015 (Summary)

EMTALA

Johnson v. Bishof, No. 1-13-1122 (Ill. App. Ct. Mar. 13, 2015)

The Appellate Court of Illinois for the First District, Fifth Division, affirmed a lower court’s granting of summary judgment against a patient who alleged that she was treated negligently and in violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”).

The patient presented to a hospital’s emergency room complaining of back spasms and severe pain after slipping on ice. During her medical examination, according to the patient’s complaint, the physicians expressed their belief that she may have been faking or exaggerating her symptoms. After examining the patient, the doctors diagnosed her ailment as a muscle spasm, wrote her a painkiller prescription, and discharged her. She returned to the hospital soon after, where she was diagnosed with a spinal cord contusion and paralysis. She filed claims against the county and the physicians who examined her, alleging negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and a violation of EMTALA. All of these claims were dismissed on summary judgment by the lower court.

The court of appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss all claims. Though the physicians misdiagnosed the client, they were found to be immune from negligence allegations under the Tort Immunity Act. The court found that an incorrect diagnosis does not, on its own, mean that the physicians were negligent. For similar reasons, the court affirmed the dismissal of the claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Furthermore, the court found no evidence to show that the treatment prescribed to the patient was negligent, given the physician’s diagnosis of muscle spasms. The court refused to impose a legal duty on physicians to believe the sincerity of a patient when medical judgment suggests otherwise. Finally, the court upheld the dismissal of EMTALA claims because, even though there was a misdiagnosis, the physicians did perform medical screening on the patient as required when she entered the emergency room.