A plaintiff suing hospital defendants for negligence on behalf of a deceased plaintiff must prove a causation between that death and a delay in treatment by a doctor, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

The court dealt with an appeal from plaintiff Joe Harvard, husband of late-wife Donna Harvard, who died following a series of medical complications after suffering a stroke, according to the appeals court's opinion. Harvard was treated in the emergency room of John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville while a physician sought a consult with a neurologist from Georgia Tele-Physicians and Specialist on Call (SOC).