An emergency room physician with Charlottesville-based University of Virginia Medical Center is claiming immunity in a lawsuit, alleging he acted in good faith in sedating and restraining a woman to conduct medical tests against her will, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
The woman, who remains anonymous in the lawsuit, alleges the physician and other ER staff violated her rights by giving her psychoactive and anti-anxiety drugs, taking a blood sample by force and restraining her to insert a catheter into her bladder for a urine sample. The woman had been brought to the ER on an emergency custody order after she attempted suicide.
Scott Syverud, MD, the patient's attending physician, said the woman was told blood and urine samples were necessary to evaluate her condition, and they could be collected over her objection, according to a response filed in July. Dr. Syverud said the patient became violent and had to be sedated and restrained to collect samples.
Dr. Syverud said the woman "was not determined to lack capacity to consent to treatment during the time that she was a patient," but he said his actions were required because of the woman's "intentional and/or negligent acts."
He said he "is qualifiedly immune from liability from any action brought against him" since he acted in "objectively good faith" and did not violate "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of [the woman]."
In addition to Dr. Syverud, the lawsuit, filed June 12, names Pamela Sutton-Wallace, the medical center's CEO, Dr. Kathleen Root, two registered nurses and several unidentified staff members as defendants.
A hospital spokesperson declined to comment to the Times-Dispatch.