IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEEAT NASHVILLEJune 1, 2007 SessionDEBRA M. BARKES ET AL. v. RIVER PARK HOSPITAL, INC., d/b/a RIVER PARK HOSPITAL (TN)Appeal from the Circuit Court for Warren CountyNo. 946 Larry B. Stanley, Jr., JudgeNo. M2006-01214-COA-R3-CV Filed December 29, 2008Wife of patient brought medical malpractice action for the wrongful death of her husband who diedat home later in the same day that he was examined in the emergency room. The patient had beenexamined, diagnosed and discharged by a nurse practitioner without being seen by a physician. Theonly direct claim against the hospital was whether the hospital was liable because a written policy,which required that every patient presented to the emergency room be seen by a physician, was notfollowed by the health care providers in the Emergency Department. The jury returned a verdictexonerating all of the individual health care providers directly or indirectly involved with the careof the plaintiffs husband; however, the jury found that the hospital was 100% at fault for his death.The hospital appealed contending the jurys verdict must be set aside because it was inconsistent andirreconcilable. Because the jury found that none of the health care providers were at fault, the onlybasis for upholding the jurys verdict against the Hospital is upon the doctrine of corporate liability.Tennessee has not adopted the doctrine of corporate liability; therefore, the verdict, exonerating allindividual health care providers of fault and finding the hospital 100% at fault, constitutes aninconsistent and irreconcilable verdict. We, therefore, reverse and remand the case for a new trial.Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Reversed and VacatedFRANK G.CLEMENT,JR.,J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM C.KOCH,JR., P.J.,M.S., joined. PATRICIA J. COTTRELL, J., not participating.C. J. Gideon, Jr., Bryan Essary, and Brian Cummings, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, RiverPark Hospital, Inc., d/b/a River Park Hospital.David Randolph Smith and Edmund J. Schmidt III, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, DebraM. Barkes, Individually and As Surviving Spouse of Jewell Wayne Barkes, Deceased
