Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog | Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently ruled that a hospital may be sued for obstruction of justice if it fails to produce x-rays requested by a patient. This ruling was prompted by a recent case involving High Point Regional Hospital in North Carolina and a man, Tommy Grant, who died of cancer; the man's attorney tried several times to get the x-rays of the man's knee but to no avail.

In September 2000, Mr. Grant went to the ER of High Point Regional Hospital with terrible knee pain. X-rays were taken, but no diagnosis of cancer was made and Mr. Grant was not referred to a specialist. He died three years later of knee cancer, but by the time the cancer was diagnosed, it was incurable and terminal.

Six months after his death, the man's family inquired about a medical malpractice suit, and Mr. Grant's attorney wrote a letter to the hospital requesting his knee x-rays from 2000; he received no response. He made numerous calls and written requests but could not get a straight answer regarding the x-rays. Eight days after the initial request, a hospital employee told the attorney the x-rays "could not be found." When the hospital was subpoenaed to produce the x-rays, it responded by saying the x-rays were "not in the descendant's folder" and "had not been checked out."

This case is especially significant in North Carolina because the state requires that, before a malpractice case is filed, the attorney for the plaintiff must certify to the court that the case has been examined by an expert with similar qualifications as the defendant. The expert must render an opinion that the defendant was, indeed, negligent. The certification must further state that the examining doctor is also willing to testify against the defendant. Without the x-rays in this case, no expert could examine them and testify that the defendant was negligent.

Mr. Grant's family then sued for obstruction of justice alleging the hospital was guilty of obstructing justice because it either destroyed or failed to maintain proper medical records (x-rays) and as a result of that failure, the family could not pursue their medical malpractice case against the hospital. The case was dismissed by a trial court, but the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the acts alleged by the hospital, if true, would be acts of obstruction of justice. The decision was unanimous in the Court of Appeals in favor of Mr. Grant's family.

This case was a landmark decision and hugely significant for medical malpractice claimants. This decision may help eliminate the common problem of "lost" medical records needed to help prove medical negligence and/or malpractice.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to medical negligence in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania, please contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis today to schedule your initial consultation.