Can You Sue a Hospital for Emotional Distress?

In a medical malpractice case, the hospital may be liable for the actions of doctors, nurses, or other personnel who commit medical errors that lead to psychological injury. Illinois law allows damages to be awarded for emotional distress in the following circumstances: 

• When you were in the zone of danger where someone else was injured 
• When you also experienced a physical injury as a result of the wrongdoing 
• When the act or omission that caused the emotional distress occurred in connection with another cause of action 

Physical Injuries 

The Illinois courts have long recognized that emotional distress may stem from physical injuries caused by medical malpractice. In these cases, damages for emotional injuries are awarded in addition to physical pain and suffering. 

The Zone of Danger 

The zone of danger is the immediate physical area surrounding someone experiencing a severe physical injury, in which a bystander also faces a risk of being severely injured. 

In the 1983 case Rickey v. Chicago Transit Authority, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that bystanders who witness a traumatic injury or death may sue for emotional distress in the absence of a physical injury if they were in the zone of danger. This was the first time individuals in Illinois were allowed to recover damages for emotional distress in the absence of a physical injury.  

Separate Causes of Action 

In response to the Rickey case, the lower courts in Illinois routinely ruled against individuals pursuing damages for emotional distress who had not also been physically injured. This made it difficult for victims of medical malpractice to get justice for the psychological impacts of their injuries. 

This changed in 2011 in Clark v. Children’s Memorial Hosp., when the Illinois Supreme Court established that a plaintiff could pursue damages for emotional distress as an element of damages for another wrongful act or omission.  

This ruling was issued in a medical malpractice case involving the wrongful birth of a child born with permanent disabilities after a doctor failed to provide the mother with accurate genetic testing results. 

This case was appealed to the state supreme court after the lower courts denied emotional damages because the mother was not in any zone of danger when the malpractice occurred. The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the lower court ruling on the following basis: 

“The zone-of-danger rule applies only in cases where the plaintiff’s theory of liability is the negligent infliction of emotional distress. It does not apply where, as in a wrongful-birth case, a tort has already been committed against the plaintiffs, and they assert emotional distress as an element of damages for that tort.” 

The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed its decision in another case in 2017, Cochran v. SECURITAS SEC SERVICES USA, INC., in which a corpse was delivered to the wrong family and cremated before an autopsy could be performed. Although there was no physical injury, the emotional distress occurred due to the wrongful act of denying a family the right to the decedent’s remains.