A North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a mother can proceed with a negligence claim against a hospital that released her epileptic son, who fell into a ravine and died on his way home.

Bernice Allen claims she told the hospital staff not to let William leave until she came to pick him up from the facility, because he was “disabled, had a history of seizures, and could not come home on his own.” William had receive treatment for epilepsy at Granville Medical Center. When Allen arrived to retrieve her son, she was informed that he had been released. Seven months later William’s remains were discovered in a ravine.

The trial court dismissed Allen’s lawsuit because it failed to assert that the alleged negligent medical care had been reviewed by an expert. Upon appeal, Allen argued that her lawsuit was not for medical malpractice but for negligence. Presiding judge John Martin, agreed and reversed the lower court’s decision.

In his decision, Martin wrote that Bernice Allen did “not appear to challenge the Medical Center’s professional judgement in the discharging the decedent, rather, plaintiff alleges that the Medical Center failed to supervise a person in its care, despite being on notice that he could not care for himself, and permitted him to leave the premises without being accompanied by a responsible adult.”

If you or someone you love has been the victim of Philadelphia medical malpractice or negligence, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. to learn more about the legal options available to injured patients. Please call 215-238-1130 today.