Source: JazzIRT / Getty
A 90-year-old precedent was overturned by the North Carolina Supreme Court, determining that nurses can be sued for medical harm.
Amaya Gullate was three years old in 2010. Medical staff at Carolinas Medical Center, now Atrium Health, suggested surgery for her heart condition.
“They gave her anesthesia, which was the biggest danger she had,” John Edwards, the attorney representing the family said. “Her heart stopped as a result of the anesthesia. She ended up being without oxygen and blood to her brain for about 12 or 13 minutes.”
Gullate was left with cerebral palsy, developmental difficulties, and lifelong brain damage.
Edwards filed a lawsuit against the medical center, three physicians, and the certified registered nurse anesthetist. Byrd v. Marion General Hospital, a decision safeguarding nurses who work under a doctor’s supervision, stopped any action against the nurse. The state Supreme Court ruled in a 41-page opinion 12 years later that nurses can be held legally accountable.
A 3-2 majority supported the decision.
