Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital set the precedent for jurisprudence regarding hospital liability at a time when there were no other established cases of hospital negligence at a corporate level. The basis of the suit claims that an athlete who was evaluated and treated for an orthopedic emergency by a non-specializing physician through the ER ultimately lost his leg due to corporate negligence. According to McWay (2016, 2010), corporate negligence “recognizes that a health care organization, such as a hospital, owes a duty directly to a patient with regard to care and treatment” (pg. 78).
In this case, the hospital did not meet its duty to the patient for several reasons. The physician on call was not specialized and therefore