Shannon v. McNulty
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
718 A.2d 828 (1998)
Sheena Shannon (plaintiff), a HealthAmerica HMO subscriber, chose an ob/gyn (Dr. McNulty, defendant) from a list HealthAmerica (defendant) provided, and after reporting worsening abdominal and back pain suggesting possible pre-term labor, was repeatedly dismissed by both McNulty and HealthAmerica's telephone triage nurses, who simply told her to keep calling McNulty rather than referring her for examination; only after multiple additional calls was Shannon finally directed to a distant hospital, where she prematurely delivered a baby who died two days later. Shannon sued McNulty for negligence and sued HealthAmerica under both vicarious-liability and corporate-negligence theories for its triage nurses' handling of her calls; the trial court granted McNulty a compulsory nonsuit, and Shannon appealed.
Whether, if a benefits provider such as an HMO involves itself in the medical decisions affecting a subscriber's care, it must do so in a medically reasonable manner.