The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that a man who has multiple drunken driving convictions can sue the state's largest hospital for drawing his blood at the request of police.
Kelley O'Brien was brought to Burlington's Fletcher Allen Health Care after a 2009 incident in Shelburne. Police said at the time he drove his car at an officer who fired several shots in self-defense, one of which lodged in the 45-year-old O'Brien's back.
At the hospital, O'Brien twice refused police attempts to take a blood sample as evidence he had been driving drunk. After surgery to remove the bullet, a recovery room nurse drew O'Brien's blood. He consented, thinking it was for medical purposes, but the nurse turned the sample over to police.
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