A circuit court erred in denying the West Virginia University Hospital’s motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death case due to the judge’s failure to apply the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance Management statutes, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia recently held.

The estate of Bryan Morris filed a wrongful death suit against two doctors: Dr. Allison Tadros, a faculty physician with the West Virginia University School of Medicine, and Dr. Rachel Polinski, a resident physician. Morris claimed that the physicians should have recognized Morris’ symptoms of potential aortic dissection and should have ordered additional imagery or surgery to prevent his death.