Virginia Injury Lawyers Blog
Earlier this month, an appellate court in New York issued an opinion in a case that discussed the liability that may arise when a doctor at a hospital administers medication to a patient and then releases the patient without any warning that the medication provided may affect their driving. In the case, Davis v. South Nassau Communities Hospital, the plaintiff was not the patient of the doctor but was a third party who was injured in a car accident involving the patient.
The Facts of the Case
A woman (“the Patient”) went to the hospital for treatment. As part of her treatment, she was given opioid pain medication and a benzodiazepine. Less than two hours later, the doctors discharged the Patient. On her way home, the Patient crossed a double-yellow line and collided with a bus being driven by the plaintiff.
The plaintiff filed suit against the treating physicians as well as the hospital that employs them, arguing that the defendants were negligent in failing to warn the Patient that the medication she recently ingested could affect her driving. In an pre-trial proceeding, the defendants asked the court to dismiss the case against them, arguing that the only duty they had was to the Patient, and that duty did not extend to third parties such as the plaintiff.