We last addressed the issue in December 2014, when we reviewed multiple appellate decisions on the subject that had been handed down over the previous 10 years. In that column, we divided these types of cases into two broad categories: those involving failures to prevent patients from causing injuries to others; and, those where non-patients were exposed to patients with contagious diseases. One of the Appellate Division decisions discussed in that column, in the former category, was recently reversed by the Court of Appeals. The court’s opinion in that case, Davis v. South Nassau Comm. Hosp., __ N.Y.3d __, NYLJ Dec. 17, 2015, p. 24 (2015), reversing 119 A.D.3d 512 (2d Dept. 2014), establishes a new and important precedent in this area, and is the subject of this month’s column.
Background: ‘Purdy’
Before turning to Davis, however, it is important to recall the court’s earlier decision in Purdy v. Pub. Admin. of Westchester County, 72 N.Y.2d 1 (1988), because it involved a very similar circumstance. Although we have discussed this case several times in the past, the similarities to Davis warrant a more in-depth examination of Purdy.
