AGO Opinion Topics: BLOOD TEST

(1) The immunity from civil liability which is granted by RCW 46.61.508 to hospitals and their personnel administering blood tests in accordance with RCW 46.20.308 (implied consent) is not dependent upon the ultimate lawfulness of the accused person's arrest or a later court determination that the arresting officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the accused had been driving or was in actual physical control of the motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.(2) The question of possible civil liability by the arresting agency under such circumstances is not dependent upon RCW 46.61.508, and the possibility of liability on the basis of a hospital's negligence in administering the blood test would be dependent upon ordinary principles of tort law as between the plaintiff driver and the defendant county or other arresting agency.