Negligence – Malpractice

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Courtney Webster, et al. v. CDI Indiana, LLC

Case No.: 18-3080

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Negligence – Malpractice

This medical malpractice lawsuit arises from a radiologist’s negligence. Courtney Webster had a CT scan performed at CDI Indiana, LLC’s (CDI) diagnostic imaging facility in Carmel, Indiana. The radiologist, an independent contractor hired by Medical Scanning Consultants (MSC), missed Courtney’s cancer, which then festered for over a year before being diagnosed.

Courtney and her husband, Brian Webster, sued CDI. CDI, in response, insisted that the Websters could not hold it liable because CDI did not directly employ the radiologist. The district court rejected this argument and applied Indiana’s apparent agency holding in Sword v. NKC Hosp., Inc., 714 N.E.2d 142, 152 (Ind. 1999), which instructs that a medical provider is liable if a patient reasonably relied on its apparent authority over the wrongdoer. The jury returned a $15 million verdict in favor of the Websters. We agree with the district court’s analysis and so we affirm.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.