Wilcox v. Advocate Condell Medical Center

In a medical malpractice case, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff and against the defendant hospital. The defendant appealed, arguing that it was entitled to JNOV or a new trial on the basis that plaintiff improperly employed a theory of institutional negligence to impose direct liability for what was, in actuality, a claim of vicarious liability for the professional negligence of healthcare professionals. Defendant also argued that plaintiff failed to establish proximate cause and that the trial court erred when it found that the prejudgment interest statute was constitutional. The appellate court affirmed, finding that plaintiff properly pursued a claim premised on institutional liability and that plaintiff’s claim was not vicarious liability in disguise and that the evidence of proximate causation regarding the institutional negligence claims was not so overwhelmingly in favor of the defendant that no verdict in favor of the plaintiff could stand. The appellate court did find a lack of proximate cause relating to a claim for vicarious liability but that it did not constitute reversible error where there was an alternative theory of liability supported by proximate cause. Finally, the appellate court was not persuaded that it should overturn existing precedent relating to the constitutionality of the prejudgment interest statute. (PUCINSKI and COGHLAN, concurring)