Chicago hospital judged not liable for serious injury accident involving doctor

By Jim Greene

Published on September 21, 2005

The family of Heather Brewster filed a lawsuit accusing Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center of imposing excessive work hours on then first-year resident Dr. Sook Im Hong, thereby contributing to a collision in which Brewster received injuries that left her physically and mentally impaired. Hong, who was driving home after having worked for 34 of the previous 36 hours, admitted to falling asleep before rear-ending Brewster's car.

The suit alleged the hospital, now known as Rush University Medical Center, knew its work requirements left residents sleep deprived and in danger of causing traffic accidents. Hospital officials said scheduling was in line with state-approved guidelines at the time of the accident. In 2003, standards across the country were changed to reduce the number of consecutive work hours imposed on hospital resident doctors.

The appellate court ruled that it was not the duty of a hospital to be responsible for the actions of it sleep-deprived staff away from work. Attorneys for the Brewster family said they plan to appeal the verdict to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Brewster, who was 23 at the time of the accident, was declared legally incompetent and now lives with her parents.

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