Lawsuit Against Anesthesiologist for Giving the Wrong Kind of Anesthesia

In Churkey v. G.A. Rustia, 329 Ill. App. 3d 239, 245, 768 N.E.2d 842, 263 Ill. Dec. 761 (2002), the plaintiff, who signed a consent form underwent surgery at the defendant hospital; she was given the wrong kind of anesthesia and later sued the defendant on the ground that the anesthesiologist was its apparent agent. Upon questioning during her deposition, she stated that she had no memory of any of the events at the defendant hospital after checking in and leading up to her surgery. See Churkey, 329 Ill. App. 3d at 241. However, once the defendant moved for summary judgment, the plaintiff answered via an affidavit in which she stated that she believed before her surgery that the anesthesiologist was the defendant's employee, that she did not recall ever being told as she prepared for surgery that he was not the defendant's employee, and that she did not remember reading the consent form prior to signing it. See Churkey, 329 Ill. App. 3d at 242. In holding that her affidavit did not create a genuine issue of material fact to defeat summary judgment, the Churkey court found that there were no specific facts to support the assertions stated therein. See Churkey, 329 Ill. App. 3d at 245.