State high court rules in hospital liability case involving blood contamination. (New York)

New York

Hospital administrators said they are relieved that New York state's highest court has declined to expand their liability for blood and other medical services typically supplied by outside contractors.

"We're very happy with the decision," said Jeannie Cross, a spokeswoman for the Hospital Association of New York State, which represents 218 hospitals in the state. "Essentially, what we now have is a precedent that hospitals are not liable for blood they obtain from an outside contractor," she added.

Hospitals had been worried for months about the ramifications of a case filed by a New Yorker on behalf of his wife and infant daughter. …