Spivey v. St. Thomas Hospital

Mrs. Spivey sued St. Thomas Hospital for alleged negligence causing the death of her husband, Jesse James Spivey. He was suffering with pneumonia and a high temperature. He was brought to the hospital, accepted as a paying patient, and put on a bed near a window on tbe third floor. A few hours later, while delirious with fever and knowing not what he was doing, he got out this window, fell about 14 feet, struck a concrete porch, and his death ensued next day.

The negligence alleged was that through its interns and nurses — its employees and agents — defendant knew he was delirious and…