The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday sent a medical malpractice case filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court back, ruling that Judge Rob Wyatt Jr. erred by dismissing the lawsuit without holding a hearing, and instructed him to hold a hearing in the case.
Teresa Bloodman, the administrator of the estate of the late John Thomas Eagle Jr., had filed suit against Jefferson Hospital Association, the company that operates Jefferson Regional Medical Center, in July 2010, claiming medical malpractice.
Jefferson Hospital Association answered that claim in August, and on Sept. 10, 2010, filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds of charitable immunity, but did not offer any proof as to the hospital’s charitable immunity status in 2010.
Instead, they submitted legal documents indicating that the Arkansas Supreme Court had confirmed that Jefferson Hospital Association was entitled to immunity based on a case in 1999, and claimed the decision was applicable to the suit filed by Bloodman.