$12 Million Suit Cites Harvard as Defendant

The University has taken no major action so far in a $12 million suit filed against it and five Boston area physicians by a former Medical School student. The student, Walter Grueninger, formerly of Palisades, N.J., claims he lost his sight because an illness he suffered while at the University was not properly treated.

Grueninger's suit demands $2 million from the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the same amount from each of the five doctors, one of whom is on the Medical School Faculty. The suit was filed late last spring in the Suffolk Superior Civil Court, and all papers involved were immediately impounded by the Court.

The former student, according to reports in a Boston newspaper, contracted a "fungus disease of the blood" in the winter of 1957-58 while a sophomore at the Medical School. The paper said he was admitted to an infirmary operated by the School and later transferred to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. The University has neither confirmed nor denied these details.

Grueninger is reported to claim his blindness is absolutely unnecessary and could have been prevented had he promptly been given massive dosages of penicillin. He is now totally blind, the suit says.

Although the University has made no public reply to Grueninger's charges, it has indicated disagreement with them. A University statement this summer said Harvard would answer to the litigation "when required," and continued, "It is understood that this answer will include a general denial."

So far as is known, do date for a hearing on the suit has been set. Because of the impoundment no one connected with the case may reveal details concerning it, according to a member of the law firm of Schneider, Reilly, and McArdle, representing Grueninger.

Legal Argument

Because educational institutions are not normally subject to suit in Massachusetts, the plaintiff's case will rest on an unusual legal argument, the Boston paper reported.

The plaintiff will contend, the paper said, that the School's health service is a profit-making activity of the University, with its costs separate from tuition charges. Because this voluntary health plan is not part of the school's required fee, it is a separate organization and can therefore be sued, the plaintiff reportedly will argue.

The names of the physicians involved in the suit have not have been made public. Some of them, however, are known to be on the staff of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.