Knight v. West Paces Ferry Hosp. Inc.

Some evidence supported the plaintiff's claim that the defendant's nursing staff breached the applicable standard of car in the manner in which they administered IV therapy following plaintiff's cervical disc surgery.

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After undergoing cervical disc surgery at West Paces Ferry Hospital, Laura Knight contracted a staph infection, and eventually contracted a permanent, debilitating illness known as pyoderma gangrenosum. Knight and her husband filed a medical malpractice action against West Paces Ferry Hospital, Inc., alleging the hospital nursing staff’s negligence caused her to contract the staph infection, and that the staph infection triggered the pyoderma gangrenosum. West Paces Ferry Hospital denied that its agents acted negligently, and moved for summary judgment. The trial court denied the motion and the case proceeded to a jury trial. After six days of trial, during the presentation of the hospital’s case, the hospital moved for a directed verdict, urging that Knight failed to prove that the staph infection was caused by the negligence of the hospital staff. The trial court granted the hospital’s motion for a directed verdict, stating that Knight failed to prove that the nursing staff’s failure to wash their hands caused the staph infection. The Knights appeal from the directed verdict. We reverse.

A directed verdict is proper only if there is no conflict in the evidence as to any material issue and the evidence introduced, with all reasonable deductions therefrom, shall demand a verdict.1 In determining whether a conflict in the evidence exists, the court must construe the evidence most favorably to the party opposing the motion for a directed verdict.2

Knight v. West Paces Ferry Hosp. Inc.

Some evidence supported the plaintiff's claim that the defendant's nursing staff breached the applicable standard of car in the manner in which they administered IV therapy following plaintiff's cervical disc surgery.

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