A hospital may be held vicariously liable for the alleged wrongful death of a patient who was treated by a drug-addicted surgeon at the facility, a Pennsylvania court has found.

Pocono Medical Center and Pocono Hospital System raised preliminary objections to the wrongful death complaint filed by the wife of Douglas MacLeod, who underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy at the hospital in December 2006.

The surgeon, David P. Russo, MD, who is also a defendant in the case along with assisting surgeon Mukesh J. Mehta, MD, allegedly left for vacation immediately after performing the procedure "without securing surgical coverage in his place," according to court documents. Mr. MacLeod suffered complications the next day, which the plaintiff claims resulted from Dr. Russo "failing to properly identify and clip [her husband's] cystic artery during surgery." Mr. MacLeod was treated for cystic artery bleeding and had numerous hospitalizations until he died in March 2008.

Dr. Russo later admitted that he was addicted to drugs and alcohol, according to court documents. In August 2009, Mr. MacLeod's wife sued the surgeon, Dr. Mehta and the hospital, which allegedly knew of Dr. Russo's addictions, for medical negligence.

The complaint against Pocono Medical Center alleges that the facility and Pocono Health System "knew of and permitted the addictions which gave rise to the claim of punitive damages against" Dr. Russo, and that the entities could therefore be held vicariously liable. Pocono Medical Center and Pocono Health System filed a preliminary objection to this claim, which was dismissed in May by the Court of Common Pleas in Monroe County, Pa. "Accepting all facts as true, Count IV of the amended complaint does allege that moving defendants knew of and permitted defendant Russo's conduct," wrote the court.

However, the court upheld the defendants' objection to a separate claim of corporate negligence, which alleges liability "based on a hospital's own policies, actions or inactions." The court determined that the plaintiff failed "to plead facts demonstrating conduct of the hospital directly that is willful, wanton or recklessly indifferent to the rights of others."

A spokesman for the hospital declined to comment, saying it was the facility's policy not to discuss open litigation.

Irene Tsikitas

Outpatient Surgery Magazine staff