Wrongful Death Suit Reinstated Against Cleveland Doctor

Cleveland, MSDr. James Warrington Jr. was sued by Helen Grimes in 2001 for the death of John Grimes, her husband. In August 2000, John Grimes was treated by Dr. Warrington for pain in his stomach that extended down into his right side. According to court documents, Warrington prescribed medication for pain and inflammation and let him go home.

Days later, John Grimes had to go to the hospital and underwent surgery after it was found that his gallbladder was perforated and that other problems had occurred that had not been addressed immediately upon his complaints of pain in his side. Unfortunately, John Grimes never got to leave the Bolivar Medical Center because he had passed away while he was still there.

Due to the lawsuit, Dr. Warrington has stated that he was entitled to protection from malpractice suits under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act because he was an employee of the Cleveland Medical Alliance Clinic, which is a subsidiary of Greenwood-Leflore Hospital. Despite these statements by Dr. Warrington, he did not make a request to have the lawsuit dismissed because he felt that the protection itself was enough and did not take further action to secure his protection under the act. This resulted in the ongoing process of securing a trial and other such tasks associated with the lawsuit.

The Tort Claims Act only controls those lawsuits that are brought against local and state public and government officials. As a result, it limits the amount of damages that can be sought against these government entities.

However, in five years, both Helen Grimes and Dr. Warrington prepared for a trial. There were several pretrial depositions and trial dates were scheduled and rescheduled on several different occasions. It wasn't until August 2006 that Warrington finally asked for a dismissal of the lawsuit because of his claim of immunity under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. After this request, the trial court dismissed the lawsuit in October 2006 and Hel Grimes appealed.

Grimes alleged that the trial was unreasonably delayed by Warrington even though he knew he was protected under the Tort Claims Act, but Warrington argues that it was not unreasonable at all. On the other hand, Chief Justice Jim Smith stated that Warrington was too late although he was protected by the Tort Claims Act since he was an employee of a clinic with an affiliation with a public hospital. He could have asked for the dismissal at the beginning of the lawsuit and it would have most likely been granted because of the protection provided to him by the Tort Claims Act.

Furthermore, Smith stated that there are five years of records that show the case was set for trial on two separate occasions. The designation of experts had occurred and they had been questioned regarding the negligence claim. Due to this, Smith deemed that all actions taken in regards to the lawsuit was an excessive waste of time and valuable resources since Dr. Warrington was determined to be protected under the Tort Claims Act, but the case continued on unnecessarily for a five year period in which full preparations were performed for a complete trial.

In Smith's conclusion, he stated that Dr. Warrington failed to pursue his defense being that he was protected under the Tort Claims act, so that served as a waiver in the case. In the meantime, the money and countless resources used to pursue the case were wasted as well as the time of all parties involved. Had Dr. Warrington pursued dismissal earlier on, the appeals process could have occurred sooner for Mrs. Grimes and the case would be considerably closer to an end.

By Ginger Gillenwater