LEE BY LEE v. Bourgeois

In this case we consider whether an attending physician employed by the state is entitled to sovereign immunity for alleged acts of simple negligence.

Eartha K. Lee was admitted to the high risk pregnancy service at the University of Virginia Hospital (University Hospital) on September 23, 1985, when she was approximately 28 weeks pregnant. Dr. Siva Thiagarajah, Lee’s attending physician, prescribed a management plan for her medical treatment. Dr. Thiagarajah’s plan was to stop preterm labor with drugs and to monitor Lee for infection. When Dr. Thiagarajah went off duty on the afternoon of…