In a case handled by C&A litigator Randy DiBella, the Connecticut Appellate Court reversed a trial court decision denying an injured party the right to file a straight negligence personal injury lawsuit against a hospital. In that case, the plaintiff was attempting to carry her anesthesia groggy grandchild out of the hospital following a procedure. She had asked for a wheelchair to transport the child with the baby’s diaper bag and other gear. A hospital employee refused the request and ordered her to leave on her own. She exited carrying the non-ambulatory child and the bags by herself without assistance. So laden, she fell to the ground and was injured, and eventually sued the hospital. The trial court ruled that because the hospital’s decision to release the child while still under the effects of anesthesia was a medical issue, the plaintiff needed certification from a medical expert that the discharge determination constituted medical malpractice and dismissed the lawsuit. After it was dismissed, the case was assigned to Randy DiBella to appeal the judgment in the Connecticut Appellate Court. DiBella did so, and argued the case before a three-judge Appellate Court panel, asserting that the trial court’s determination was in error and the case should proceed outside the field of medical negligence. The Appellate Court agreed, and reversed the trial court’s judgment of dismissal. It ordered the case reinstated to the trial court docket.
Multari v. Yale-New Haven Hospital 143 Conn. App. 253 (2013).
