Judge says families can sue Pa. hospital

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - A state judge has ruled that the families of patients killed by nurse Charles Cullen can sue a Pennsylvania hospital for failing to tell Somerset Medical Center in New Jersey what it told other hospitals: Do not hire Cullen.

In rejecting a bid from St. Luke's Hospital of Bethlehem to dismiss the family's lawsuit, Superior Court Judge Bryan D. Garruto also ruled that Somerset Medical Center can amend its own lawsuit against St. Luke's to include similar claims of negligence.

"The record reflects that St. Luke's did not affirmatively misrepresent Mr. Cullen as a 'model employee,' " Garruto, who sits in New Brunswick, wrote in an opinion filed Aug. 21. "However, because St. Luke's chose to omit information about Mr. Cullen's rehiring status to an inquiry by Somerset when at the same time St. Luke's officials were calling other local-area hospitals to inform them of Cullen's 'do not rehire' status, it is not immune from liability."

The judge did not rule on the merits of the families' case.

Cullen, who told investigators he might have killed as many as 40 patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to killing 29 people and attempting to kill six others. He is serving a life term.

After working at hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania beginning in 1987, Cullen started at St. Luke's in 2000. Cullen left there in September 2002 after St. Luke's investigated suspicious activity and told him he could resign or be fired.

The ruling was reported yesterday by the Newark Star-Ledger on its Web site.