Court Rules Claim For Sexual Assault By Hospital Nurse Is Not Covered By Malpractice Act: After a hospital patient who was sexually assaulted by her nurse settled her claims against the hospital, she filed a claim under the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act (“MMA”) to obtain compensation from the Indiana Department of Insurance. The patient requested a damages hearing and indicated that she sought excess damages from the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund (“Fund”) not to exceed $1,000,000. The Fund eventually moved for summary judgment on the basis that the patient’s underlying claims against the hospital and the nurse were not covered by the MMA. Following a hearing, the trial court granted the Fund’s motion for summary judgment, and the patient appealed.
The patient argued before the Court of Appeals of Indiana (“Indiana Appellate Court”) that courts in Indiana should no longer limit application of the MMA to curative or salutary conduct of a health care provider acting within his or her professional capacity or exclude conduct unrelated to the promotion of a patient’s health or the provider’s exercise of professional expertise, skill, or judgment. Rather, courts need only consider whether the alleged misconduct arose naturally or predictably from the relationship between the health care provider and the patient or from an opportunity provided by that relationship. Because his employment as a nurse authorized him to touch her genitals, the patient argued that his sexual assault of her is subject to the MMA.
In its opinion dated August 31, 2022, the Indiana Appellate Court stated, “This is a bridge too far … The fact that the alleged misconduct occurred in a healthcare facility, or that the injured party was a patient at the facility, is not dispositive of whether the MMA applies. Rossner, 172 N.E.3d at 1255. Instead, we must look to the substance of the claim and determine whether it is based on the provider’s behavior or practices while acting in his or her professional capacity as a provider of medical services … Doe’s [the patient’s] allegations do not describe professional services relating in any way to the promotion of her health; rather, they present factual issues capable of resolution by a jury without application of the standard of care prevalent in the local medical community … Nor do her allegations call into question the degree of skill exercised by [the nurse] … A medical review panel is no more equipped to address Doe’s sexual assault allegations in this case than the average juror. Accordingly, we conclude that Doe’s claims do not fall within the purview of the MMA and, therefore, the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the Fund.”
Source Jane Doe v. Indiana Department of Insurance and The Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund, Opinion 22A-CT-84.
If you or a loved one were harmed as a result of a sexual assault by a nurse in Indiana or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find an Indiana medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your sexual assault malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a sexual assault medical malpractice malpractice case, if appropriate.
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