A hospital is not absolutely liable for allegedly negligent emergency room care provided by independent contractors, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled in reversing judgment.

The plaintiff's son suffered permanent brain damage after contracting meningitis.

The plaintiff sued the hospital, alleging that her son's injuries could have been avoided if emergency room doctors had diagnosed his condition immediately rather than after four visits to the facility.

The plaintiff argued that, even though the emergency room doctors who treated her son were independent contractors, the hospital had an absolute, non-delegable duty of care.

The court disagreed.

"Generally, hospitals are not vicariously liable for the acts of independent contractor doctors. The imposition of an absolute nondelegable duty is an exception to this general rule. An absolute nondelegable duty is essentially a strict liability concept, where, despite delegation of a duty to an independent contractor, the principal remains primarily responsible for improper performance. ...

"While we have recognized some exceptions to the general rule that hospitals are not vicariously liable for the acts of independent contractor doctors, there is no legal or policy basis for imposing an absolute nondelegable duty on [the hospital in this case], and we decline to adopt one," the court said.

However, the court concluded that the hospital could be liable under an "ostensible agency" theory, and remanded the matter for a determination of whether it was reasonable for the plaintiff to assume that the emergency room doctors were the hospital's agents.

Nevada Supreme Court. Renown Health, Inc. v. Vanderford, No. 51755.