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R. S. W. v. Emory Healthcare Inc.

The plaintiff's claims that based on the defendant's alleged negligently failure to inform him about the risk of exposure to a fatal disease before his surgery were not suitable for class certification.

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R. S. W., individually and on behalf of similarly situated persons, filed a class action lawsuit against Emory Healthcare, Inc. alleging multiple claims in connection with his possible exposure to a fatal disease during a surgical procedure. In five enumerations of error, he appeals from the trial court’s denial of his motion for class certification. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm. The record shows that on September 10, 2004, physicians at Emory performed a brain biopsy on “Patient X” in an effort to diagnose her illness. Following the procedure, the surgical instruments used during the biopsy were “subjected to normal sterilization techniques including cleaning the instruments in a solution and heating them to 270 degrees Farenheit for four minutes in a pre-vacuumed surgical autoclave.”

Following the biopsy, an Emory pathologist who was concerned that the tissue might have been infected with “a transmittable neurodegenerative disease,” sent it to the Centers for Disease Control “CDC” for further evaluation. On September 15, 2004, the CDC informed Emory that based upon testing conducted on the biopsy sample, it had concluded that there was a possibility that Patient X was infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease “CJD”. CJD is a fatal, incurable, rapidly progressive disease that causes neurological problems, including dementia. It is thought to be transmitted by proteins called “prions,” and may be transmitted during surgery.1

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