Mitchell v. Los Robles Regional Medical Center (a published opinion) – Ventura County case #56-2019-00528548-CU-PO-VTA; Appeal case #B309123 – 2nd Appellate District, Division 6
A female Plaintiff, while being monitored and treated in the Emergency Department at the defendant hospital, advised her bedside nurse that she needed to use the restroom. The nurse allowed Plaintiff to proceed without staff assistance because the patient did not present as a high fall risk, did not complain of dizziness, and exhibited no balance problems. As the patient was walking alone from the bathroom back toward her treatment bed, her legs “gave out” and she struck her head against a wall and incurred injuries including facial abrasions and a right knee fracture. Almost two years later, Plaintiff filed a Complaint alleging general negligence and premises liability theories.
The Court of Appeal held the factual allegations sounded in professional negligence because the nursing staff’s judgment that Plaintiff could use the restroom without their assistance was a judgment made in the course of providing medical care to her. Their duty to protect Plaintiff from falling while walking in the ED was one owed to a patient, not a member of the general public. Therefore, Plaintiff’s claim was time-barred by the one-year Statute of Limitations applicable to professional negligence actions under C.C.P. 340.5.