Gordon G. Strachan and Marilyn Strachan, His Wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital and…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that a hospital administrator owed a duty to release a deceased patient's body to the next of kin, but no duty to maintain written procedures for removing a patient from life‑support. The Court affirmed the jury's finding of breach of the duty to release the body and allowed recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress, while reversing the lower court's ruling on the procedural‑duty claim and remanding for a retrial on damages only. Justice O’Hern concurred in part and dissented in part, agreeing with the substantive analysis but ordering a full retrial.