The Tennessee Supreme Court rules that the daughter of a nursing home resident who was beaten to death by another resident has no claim against the State of Tennessee for negligence in its pre-admission screening of the assailant. Conley v. State (Tenn., No. M2002-00813-SC-R11-CV, Aug. 25, 2004).
Martha Stinson, a patient at a Tennessee nursing home, was severely beaten by another patient, James Johnson, who had been diagnosed as having agitated psychosis. Ms. Stinson later died from her injuries. Her daughter, Patricia Conley, filed a complaint for wrongful death against the nursing home's operator, which filed an answer raising the issue of the State's comparative fault. Ms. Conley subsequently filed a claim against the State alleging that it was negligent in its federally required pre-admission screening of Mr. Johnson, which determined that he was fit for admission to the nursing home. Her claim was based on the State's medical malpractice in screening Mr. Johnson and the State's negligent "care, custody, or control" of him. The State moved to dismiss Ms. Conley's claim on the grounds that it was not timely filed and that she had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Court of Appeals reversed on the statute of limitations issue and remanded for further proceedings on the other actions.
The Supreme Court of Tennessee agrees with the Appeals Court that Ms. Conley timely filed her claim, but rules that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted against the State for: 1) medical malpractice, because there was no professional/client relationship between a state employee and the claimant, or 2) for "negligent care, custody, or control," because in administering the pre-screening of a nursing home patient, the State did not have care, custody or control. "Although the State is required by the federal government to administer the pre-admission screening of patients admitted to Medicaid-funded nursing homes," the court writes, ". . . the claim did not allege that state employees conducted the screening or evaluation of James Johnson."
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