Pike v. Hagaman

OPINION BY JUSTICE STEPHEN R. McCULLOUGH

Douglas E. Pike, the plaintiff in a medical malpractice action, challenges the trial court's dismissal of his complaint on the basis of sovereign immunity. Pike argues that the defendant Kathryn S. Hagaman, a registered nurse in the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Virginia Commonwealth University, or VCU, Medical Center is not entitled to sovereign immunity. Applying the four factor test from James v. Jane , 221 Va. 43 , 282 S.E.2d 864 (1980), we disagree and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Pike was a surgical patient at VCU Medical Center, a hospital that…