Medical Malpractice – Negligence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: John Lipsey v. United States of America, et al.

Case No.: 17-1063

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Medical Malpractice – Negligence

In this appeal, John Lipsey seeks relief on behalf of his minor daughter J.L., for tragic injuries suffered by J.L. at birth. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, and Lipsey appeals that determination. Lipsey filed suit on behalf of his minor child, J.L., against the United States pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq., and against the “Kankakee Defendants”—consisting of: Kankakee County; Timothy Bukowski, Sheriff of Kankakee County; Michael Downey, Chief of Corrections; Heather Gill, R.N.; Timothy Menard, P.A.; Dr. Clyde Dayhoff, JCDC’s medical co-director; and Ivette Charee Sangster, L.P.N.—alleging medical malpractice and pendent claims under the Family Expense Act and for willful and wanton conduct. Judge Baker granted the motion for summary judgment of the defendant United States, and a subsequent district court judge, Judge Shadid, granted summary judgment on behalf of the Kankakee Defendants on the remaining claims. Lipsey now appeals both decisions.

The district court also properly granted summary judgment as to the non-medical defendants, as to whom a negligence standard applies. The plaintiff argues that the non-medical defendants were negligent in failing to confirm the availability of necessary care before accepting the transfer, but the record does not support such a determination. At the time White was accepted into the JCDC, the non-medical defendants knew that that the JCDC had housed pregnant inmates in the past and had provided medical care to those inmates. They had no reason to believe they would be unable to provide that same care for White as well. To the extent that they had any personal involvement after that point, they were entitled to rely on the judgment of their medical staff thereafter and nothing indicates

In a case such as this one, with tragic injuries to a newborn, the weight of the situation is ever-present in our minds. But we are entrusted here to determine only whether the district court properly applied the law to the defendants who are before us in this case. We hold that the district court properly granted summary judgment.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.