Question
Case: Peter purchases a cheetah and decides to house the cheetah in a specially designed home zoo. He hires an accredited wildlife expert to design
Case: Peter purchases a cheetah and decides to house the cheetah in a specially designed home zoo. He hires an accredited wildlife expert to design a secure enclosure for the cheetah, and to develop protocols for keeping the cheetah safely. The wildlife expert also designs a training program for Peter's household staff, in order to ensure that the cheetah will not pose a danger to anyone. Owning a cheetah becomes an important part of Peter's identity, so he decides to produce t-shirts with an image of the cheetah printed on them. He markets the t-shirts by using a photo of Trudy, a local celebrity, that he finds publicly available on the internet, and he digitally manipulates it to show Trudy wearing Peter's cheetah t-shirt and making a "thumbs-up" sign. He posts this photo on multiple social media platforms. He produces and sells 5,000 of these t-shirts. A year later, Trudy finds out about the use of her photo to market the t-shirts, and decides to take legal action against Peter. Two years later, Peter's cheetah manages to escape from its enclosure and runs over to the neighbor's garden, where it bites the neighbor, Sonny. Sonny goes to the hospital to treat his injuries. While checking in, Sonny is asked to fill out a form detailing his medical history. He does not pay close attention to the form, and fails to indicate under "allergies to medication" that he is allergic to penicillin. Sonny is then examined by Dr. Bonny Hyde, who notices that the bite area is already infected, and thus, decides to give Sonny penicillin to treat the infection. During Sonny's examination, Dr.Hyde briefly reviews the medical history form, but does not verbally ask Sonny if he is allergic to any medication, which is mandated by state health regulations prior to a doctor administering any medication to a conscious patient. Sonny is given penicillin, and as a result, he goes into shock and falls into a coma for 2 weeks, resulting in hospital bills amounting to $30,000 and missed wages of $10,000. Treatment of the bite would likely have been simple, successful, and would have cost Sonny only $2,000, had a different antibiotic been used. Sonny consults a lawyer and wants to pursue legal remedies against Peter, Dr. Hyde, and the hospital where he was treated. Question: Discuss, using the IRAC method, all the tort related lawsuits that could result from the above set of facts, whether or not you think they will be successful.
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