Allowing a Patient to Fall from a Table is Medical Malpractice Rather Than Ordinary Negligence

SUZANNE RENEE WILLIAMS-ALI AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF RUBY LEE COFER WILLIAMS v. MOUNTAIN STATES HEALTH ALLIANCE

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys:

Robert Payne Cave, Jr., Kingsport, Tennessee, for the appellant, Suzanne Renee Williams- Ali.

Frank H. Anderson, Jr., Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellee, Mountain States Health Alliance.

Judge: MCCLARTY

This is a case alleging negligence by defendant, Mountain States Health Alliance, which resulted in injury to a patient, Ruby Williams. Ms. Williams fell off a table while she was undergoing myocardial perfusion imaging, also known as a nuclear stress test. Mountain States Health Alliance asserted that Ms. Williams’s complaint sounded in medical malpractice instead of ordinary negligence, and asked for summary judgment because Ms. Williams had not complied with the filing requirements of the medical malpractice statute. The trial court granted summary judgment, finding that the case involved a medical malpractice claim rather than an ordinary negligence claim. Ms. Williams’s Estate appeals. We affirm the trial court’s ruling.

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