A judge has ruled that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan cannot be sued by a woman who is unable to collect a negligence award of $2.2 million. The family of Alana Marble successfully sued her physician, Dr. Simon Krige, but he had no malpractice insurance and has since returned to South Africa (see CMAJ 2001;164[5]:677). The family then sued the college for failing to require that all physicians carry malpractice insurance. Although this is now a requirement for licensure in the province, it was not mandatory in 1992 when Marble suffered brain damage while under Krige's care.
The judge ruled that even though the college has a responsibility to act in the public interest, it does not have the same responsibility toward a particular person. “There was nothing that the college did specifically in dealing with this doctor that had anything to do with the harm suffered by Miss Marble,” says Bryan Salte, a lawyer with the college. The judge did rule that a similar lawsuit against the provincial government may proceed.
Marble was 21 when she was rushed to Kindersley Union Hospital in 1992. She was comatose because of drugs she ingested at the house of her late grandmother. The lawsuit, filed by her parents, alleged that she suffered acute hypoglycemia because tests that would have detected low blood sugar were never carried out.
Today, despite her relatively young age, Marble lives in a seniors' care facility in her hometown. She is unable to speak or to care for herself. Her parents say they need the money from the negligence award to improve their daughter's quality of life now and in the future.