A Middle GA emergency practice wants out of a malpractice suit. A judge will decide.
An emergency practice in Houston County has asked a federal judge to drop it from a malpractice lawsuit filed two years ago by a Middle Georgia family, saying it had no direct involvement in a death at the center of the case.
Celestine Clarington and her daughter Magdalyn Clarington filed the lawsuit Dec. 1, 2022, against Houston County Emergency Group, which operates in Houston Medical Center, Dr. Nawar Hajo and nurses Sheryl Phillips and Sophia Grimes on behalf of their deceased husband and father Lawrence Clarington.
She visited the emergency department with him earlier that year and reported to the staff that he had a fever, was vomiting, experienced painful urination and had a history of urinary tract infections. He was also speaking “gibberish,” according to the lawsuit.
Phillips took his urine to the lab for processing and Grimes documented his symptoms, including that there was blood in the urine, but both ultimately decided that he did not need assistance. Then, when Hajo checked up on Clarington’s husband, the physician attested to the nurse’s notes, documented that his pain was relieved by “nothing,” and deduced that he was in stable condition. He was then discharged, according to the lawsuit.
Hours later, Clarington called 911 for her husband. He had difficulty breathing and was vomiting, which prompted paramedics to take him to Perry Hospital’s emergency department, where he died. An autopsy done on his body found that the cause of his death was septic shock due to his UTI, the suit said.
Independent contractors?
On Wednesday, Houston County Emergency Group requested a hearing to discuss multiple parts of the case, one of which is its request to be removed.
The center says Hajo was an independent contractor at the time he treated Clarington’s husband before his death and, under Georgia law, independent contractors are “responsible for their own actions.”
According to the emergency practice’s request, they claim to not be liable for Hajo’s actions as they do not control his manner, method or time of his medical work. The physician attested to the information himself, saying the center “did not control the method or manner by which I rendered medical care and treatment to him. I exercised my own independent clinical medical judgment when I obtained a medical history of Mr. Clarington, when I examined him, when I ordered tests and determined medications.”
As of Friday, no hearing date has been scheduled.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 12:53 PM.
