Young v. Gastro-Intestinal Center, Inc., 361 Ark. 209

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed summary judgment for a gastrointestinal center and nurse in a wrongful-death action arising from a sedated patient’s decision to drive after a procedure. The court held that the medical providers had no legal duty to forcibly control or restrain the patient after warning him not to drive, and that the plaintiff also failed to establish the applicable locality-based medical standard of care through expert testimony. A concurrence would have characterized the claim as ordinary negligence rather than medical malpractice.

Holdings

1. Under the circumstances presented, the Center and Nurse Brown owed Young no legal duty to do more than warn him that he should not drive. A medical care provider has no duty to force a patient to follow medical advice or to impose restraints or other restrictions to prevent the patient from leaving and driving.
2. The plaintiff failed to establish the requisite standard of care because her experts, Nurse Cathy Dykes and Dr. Fred Sutton, both from Texas, did not testify concerning the standard of care in Little Rock or a similar locality.
3. The court did not address the causation argument because the written order granted summary judgment on the defendants' motion without ruling on causation, and the trial court's comments indicated that its ruling was based on the absence of duty.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Gastro-Intestinal Center and Nurse Brown owed Young a legal duty to do more than warn him not to drive after sedation, including duties to confirm a driver, retain him in the recovery room, or prevent him from driving.
2. Whether summary judgment was proper because the plaintiff failed to establish the applicable medical-malpractice standard of care through expert testimony concerning the same or a similar locality.
3. Whether the trial court granted summary judgment on causation and, if so, whether that ruling was erroneous.

Disposition

affirmed