Well it appears that for one prospect I have who was subject to the epidural injection steroid causing meningitis but presents no physical symptoms still will have a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress or maybe even intentional infliction depending on the proof from the centers for disease control investigation. Looks like we are going to file suit a in a few weeks or a couple of months to await symptoms on at least the emotional distress claim. The fear of possible meningities caused by exposure is a viable cause of action. The case for support of this opinion is Carroll v. Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., 868 S.W.2d 585 (Tenn. 1993). The issue in Carroll was whether a plaintiff may recover damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress, based on the fear of contracting the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the Court said as follows:
Patients exposed to epidural with meningitis fungus but have no physical symptoms have an emotional distress claim
October 24, 2012 by
we hereby formally adopt the “actual exposure” approach [to imposing liability]. In order to recover emotional damages based on the fear of contracting AIDS, the plaintiff must prove, at a minimum, that he or she was actually exposed to HIV. And even assuming that the plaintiff was actually exposed to HIV, liability will attach only to the extent that the resulting emotional distress was within the range of that experienced by an ordinary, reasonable person under the circumstances. Moreover, any damages recoverable for emotional distress will be “confined to the time between discovery of the [exposure] and the negative medical diagnosis or other information that puts to rest the fear of injury.”