Court: Med-tech student cannot be sued
An emergency medical student cannot be sued for tearing a patient's esophagus during a botched procedure, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled. The ruling Wednesday, however, clears the way for W. Ruth Mullins to sue two doctors involved in the operation and their practices. Mullins sued after a student in the University of Saint Francis' emergency medical technician program, LaRea VanHoey, tore Mullins' esophagus trying to insert a tube into her throat to keep her airways open during surgery in 2000. That damage required a second surgery, and Mullins had to spend more than a month in the hospital recovering. Weeks before the procedure, Mullins' surgeon, Dr. Marvin E. Eastlund, provided her with an informed-consent document stating she did not want health-care students in the operating room. Mullins also signed a document from Dr. Kathryn Carboneau, the anesthesiologist, that said only Carboneau or "a physician privileged to practice" anesthesia care would perform certain duties.
