Medical malpractice; Application of the Pandemic Health Care Immunity Act (PHCIA); MCL 691.1475; Franklin v McLaren Flint; “Gross negligence”; “Willful misconduct”

Comparing Franklin, the court held that defendants were “immune from liability for . . .  alleged omissions in providing care to plaintiff” under MCL 691.1475. Plaintiff was admitted to defendant-hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, diagnosed with COVID-19, and later transferred to defendants-secondary care centers, where he allegedly developed pressure ulcers while also receiving care. The trial court granted summary disposition for defendants, finding PHCIA immunity applied and that plaintiff alleged only ordinary negligence. Plaintiff argued “that the PHCIA was inapplicable to his claims because he was not harmed because of healthcare services provided to him in support of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the injuries were unrelated to treatment for COVID-19.” Applying Franklin and the language of the PHCIA, the court found plaintiff’s injuries arose from “health care services in support of this state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic” because he “presented at the hospital with signs of COVID-19, was admitted to the COVID-19 floor for COVID-19 treatment, and allegedly developed pressure ulcers as a result of that care,” and the subsequent facility care remained sufficiently connected to that treatment. Plaintiff further argued “that his injuries were caused by the negligent omissions of defendants . . . and such negligent omissions did not fall within the scope of the immunity provided by the PHCIA. But in Franklin, the plaintiff likewise alleged that the development of his pressure ulcers was attributable to the acts and omissions of the defendant, including a list of actions that the defendant neglected to administer like turning, repositioning, and offloading patients to prevent pressure ulcers for those at risk of sustaining such injuries.” The court held that “MCL 691.1475 does not differentiate between affirmative acts or the failure to act, rather, the statutory language provides that healthcare providers and healthcare facilities are ‘not liable for an injury, including death, sustained by an individual by reason of those services, regardless of how, under what circumstances, or by what cause those injuries are sustained” so omissions in wound care were likewise covered. Affirmed.