HANUSEK v. SOUTHERN MAINE MED. CENTER
12/26/1990
missal vacated. Remanded to Superior Court for entry of judgment for Southern Maine Medical Center.
McKUSICK, C.J., and BRODY and COLLINS, JJ., concur.
I must respectfully dissent. I agree that the Superior Court erred in dismissing plaintiffs'
Mrs. Hanusek states in her affidavit that she and her husband experienced a significant period of delay in receiving treatment in the emergency room. She describes her discussions with the attending physician and the supervising nurse as follows:
When Dr. Meadows told me how serious a heart attack John had, I
said "you mean to tell me that we waited more than one and a
half hours before even
The next day while I was visiting my husband in intensive care
a nurse who identified herself as a Southern Maine Medical
Center "ICU Supervisor" called me into her office. She told me
that I was being unfair and that I should take my problem out
on the "emergency room services." I then told her that "I
should have an attorney on this." The nurse then told me that
"If you get an attorney your husband's name will be placed on a
computer and all the doctors and hospitals in this area will
know about him and no one will take him on as a patient."
Mrs. Hanusek states that she and her husband refrained from seeking legal advice until they read a newspaper account of a suit brought against the hospital for a failure to treat a heart attack. Only at that point did they approach an attorney.
The Court holds as a matter of law that a patient who had just suffered a severe coronary and faced the need for continued medical treatment could not reasonably rely upon the warning given by the nursing supervisor. I fear the Court presumes too much. I would join in vacating the dismissal, but I find a genuine issue of fact is presented and I would not order the granting of summary judgment.
WATHEN, Justice, with whom ROBERTS and GLASSMAN, JJ., join, dissenting.
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