Successful at the North Carolina Court of Appeals, when the Court affirmed the trial court’s granting of Summary Judgment

JOHN MARTIN (Wilmington) was successful at the North Carolina Court of Appeals, when the Court affirmed the trial court’s granting of Summary Judgment. Plaintiff was a child seen in a hospital for a fractured wrist. After treatment he was discharged home, and two months later brought back to the Hospital with severe head injuries, as a result of which the child is a quadriplegic. DSS found that the injuries were due to child abuse from a live-in boyfriend. Plaintiff alleged that the healthcare providers who saw and treated the child for the wrist fracture were negligent, and should have suspected and pursued an investigation and reported the abuse to DSS, all of which would have prevented the child abuse. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s granting of defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissal of the case, holding that Plaintiff failed to establish that any alleged negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries.