Murray v. United States, 9030.
| Citation | 329 F.2d 270 |
| Decision Date | 09 March 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 9030.,9030. |
| Parties | Mrs. Estelle C. MURRAY, Administratrix of the Estate of Woodroe D. Murray, Deceased, Appellee, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) |
Pauline B. Heller, Attorney, Department of Justice (John W. Douglas, Asst. Atty. Gen., Sherman L. Cohn, Attorney, Department of Justice, and C. V. Spratley, Jr., U. S. Atty., on brief), for appellant.
R. R. Ryder, Richmond, Va. (Martin & Ryder, Richmond, Va., on brief), for appellee.
Before BRYAN and BELL, Circuit Judges, and BARKSDALE, District Judge.
Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346, the Administratrix of the estate of Woodroe D. Murray obtained a judgment in the District Court for damages for his death on the asserted ground that it was due to the neglect of a Veterans Administration Hospital physician. The trial judge determined there was, as a matter of law, such a breach of duty on the part of this doctor. With the facts not in conflict, we think the legal conclusion incorrect and so the award must be vacated.
Soon after midnight of December 26, 1960 at their home in Richmond, Virginia, Estelle C. Murray, wife of the decedent, called a local rescue squad for assistance because her husband's behavior suggested he was mentally disturbed. Murray, a disabled veteran, consented to go with them to the Veterans Administration Hospital near Richmond, where he was received by the admitting physician, Dr. Cohen.
To the doctor he appeared to be alert and able to walk and talk, but examination disclosed he was suffering from acute chronic alcoholism. Because of his agitation, he was given 5cc's of paraldehyde, a sedative. Within a few minutes, Murray lapsed into semicomatoseness, a condition of self-helplessness which usually follows administration of paraldehyde.
Regulations precluded admission to the Veterans Hospital of a patient suffering from alcoholism. Following his examination and diagnosis, Dr. Cohen sent Murray to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, accompanied by an attendant and a guard. He recognized the danger of possible nausea of the patient with strangulation from the vomitus. At the College Hospital, Murray was seen by Dr. Crow in the emergency room. The patient was then unconscious and in no apparent distress. Dr. Crow examined him, saw no sign of external injury, and after listening to his heart and lungs with a stethoscope, palpating the abdomen, and taking his pulse and blood pressure, found nothing alarming internally.
In answer to Dr. Crow's telephone inquiry as to why the patient had been sent to the Medical College, he was told by Dr. Cohen that the Veterans Hospital was without facilities to care for intoxicated persons. Dr. Crow was also informed by Dr. Cohen of the latter's attention to Murray, including the oral administration of the paraldehyde. Dr. Crow told Dr. Cohen that the patient, who seemed to be still asleep, would be turned over to the Richmond police department. Dr. Cohen neither protested this proposal nor instructed Dr. Crow upon the treatment or placement of the patient.
To the police officers coming for him at the College Hospital, Murray appeared to be in a deep sleep. They took him to the police station and placed him on the floor. Within a few minutes he commenced to vomit and gasp for breath. Immediately artificial respiration was applied, an ambulance summoned and he was returned to the College Hospital, where he was found dead on arrival. The probable cause of death, as reported after autopsy, was aspiration of vomitus incident to acute alcoholism. Alcohol in his blood was ascertained to be 0.14% by weight.
From these evidentiary facts, the District Court concluded that Dr. Cohen was not negligent in declining admission of the patient, in administering paraldehyde, in sending him to the College Hospital, or in reporting to Dr. Crow what had been done to Murray while at the Veterans Hospital. However, the Court found Dr. Cohen neglectful in this:
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