Thompson v. Nason Hospital

Linda Thompson (plaintiff) was rushed to Nason Hospital (defendant) in critical condition after a car accident; despite being told she took the blood thinner Coumadin and had a pacemaker, she was examined by a general practitioner rather than a specialist suited to her complex injuries, which included skull lacerations, a concussion, and a heart murmur. The next morning a general surgeon found she couldn't move her left foot and had an abnormal neurological test result, and she was later transferred to another hospital where a large intracerebral hematoma was discovered, leaving her permanently paralyzed on her left side. Thompson sued Nason for negligently failing to properly examine and treat her; the trial court (Superior Court) adopted a corporate-negligence theory against the hospital, which sought Pennsylvania Supreme Court review of that theory's validity.