Weldon v. Seminole Mun. Hosp‪.‬

1 Jennifer Weldon, a minor, was treated in the emergency room at Seminole Municipal Hospital (appellee or Hospital) on April 11, 1975, for the extraction of a bead lodged in her right ear canal. Jennifer was seen in the Hospitals emergency room by Dr. C.H. Price, the Weldons family physician. Dr. Julian S. Wood was at the Hospital during such time to see a person on the floor and happened to walk by the emergency room. After a brief consultation with Dr. Price, Dr. Wood gave his informal opinion that Dr. Price should refer the patient to an ear specialist for removal of the foreign body and treatment. When Dr. Price was unable to extract the bead she was transferred to Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City where it was surgically removed. Jennifer Weldon, by and through her father, Leonard Weldon, and Leonard Weldon, individually, (appellants) sought damages for the loss of hearing in her right ear as a result of the perforation of the tympanic membrane. Dr. C.H. Price, Dr. Julian S. Wood and Seminole Municipal Hospital were named as defendants. Appellants based their suit for damages on the alleged negligence of Drs. Price and Wood and the Hospital in their treatment of Jennifer. Appellants assert the Hospital is liable for its own acts of negligence or under the theories of respondeat superior or agency. The Hospitals liability was considered when the matter came on for hearing in the District Court of Seminole County on the Hospitals Motion for Summary Judgment. The motion was sustained by the Honorable Gordon R. Melson, District Court Judge of Seminole County.