GWU Hospital Must Defend Patient’s D.C. Consumer Protection Suit

A patient alleging she was injured as a result of a health-care provider’s failure to disclose that a first-year resident would be performing her surgery can sue the provider under consumer protection law, the District of Columbia’s top court said Thursday.

Rachel Frankeny didn’t need to present evidence of an “entrepreneurial nexus” between George Washington University Hospital’s alleged misrepresentation and the hospital’s business interests or financial motive, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals said in reversing summary judgment for GWUH.

Frankeny went to GWUH for a tonsillectomy. She signed two consent forms indicating her understanding that GWUH is a ...