Eelbode v. Chec Medical Centers, Inc.

• Decision Date: 17 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. 23653-2-II.,23653-2-II.
• Parties: Norbert Charles EELBODE and Cheryl Ann Eelbode, husband and wife, and the marital community composed thereof, Appellants, v. CHEC MEDICAL CENTERS, INC., a Washington corporation, and Laura Grothe and "John Doe" Grothe, wife and husband, and the marital community composed thereof, Respondents.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals

984 P.2d 436

97 Wash.App. 462

Norbert Charles EELBODE and Cheryl Ann Eelbode, husband and wife, and the marital community composed thereof, Appellants, v. CHEC MEDICAL CENTERS, INC., a Washington corporation, and Laura Grothe and "John Doe" Grothe, wife and husband, and the marital community composed thereof, Respondents.

No. 23653-2-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

September 17, 1999.

John Andrew Hoglund, John Andrew Hoglund Ps, Olympia, for Appellants.

Aaron Dean, Karen Adell Kalzer, Rebecca Sue Ringer, Lee, Smart, Cook, Martin & Patterson, Seattle, for Respondents.

ARMSTRONG, A.C.J.

Norbert Eelbode appeals a summary judgment dismissing his medical malpractice complaint against a physical therapist who conducted a pre-employment physical. In granting summary judgment, the trial court ruled that there was no physician-patient relationship between Eelbode and the therapist, and alternatively, Eelbode, by signing a waiver, assumed the risk of injury in the lifting test given during the physical. Additionally, Chec Medical Centers contends that Eelbode failed to set forth by affidavit sufficient facts to support his claim of medical malpractice. We hold that, although marginal, Eelbode's documents in opposition to summary judgment did create issues of fact; that Chec's physical therapist owed a duty not to harm Eelbode during the physical although no physician-patient relationship existed; and that the waiver does not bar Eelbode's claim. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

Norbert Eelbode applied for a job with Travelers Inn. Pursuant to his application, Eelbode was sent to Laura Grothe, a physical therapist at Chec Medical Centers (Chec), for a pre-employment physical examination. Before the examination, Eelbode signed a document that provided in part:

The pre-placement physical is physically demanding and requires the lifting of heavy objects. The lifting can result in muscle strain and possible back discomfort or more serious injuries in persons who do not have adequate strength or who have a pre-existing back or other health problems.

....

.... To the fullest extent permitted by law, I hereby release Chec and the Washington Readicare Medical Group and its physicians from all liability arising from any injury to me resulting from my participation in the exam including, but not limited to, any injury resulting from my failure to provide information concerning my physical or mental condition or to refrain from participating in an activity as required by this acknowledgement and agreement.

Claiming that he was injured because of an improperly administered back torso strength test, Eelbode sued Grothe and Chec for medical malpractice. Specifically, Eelbode claimed that Grothe "required" him to lift "while bending from the waist using only his back with his knees locked." Eelbode alleged that as a result he "experienced immediate sharp and burning pain in his low back, right gluteal area, and down the back of his right leg to the middle of his calf."

The trial court granted the defendants' summary judgment motion, noting the "extensive nature of the waiver." Eelbode appeals.

ANALYSIS

A. Standards for Review

In reviewing a summary judgment, we engage in the same inquiry as the trial court. Wilson v. Steinbach, 98 Wash.2d 434, 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (1982) (citation omitted); Seven Gables Corp. v. MGM/UA Entertainment Co., 106 Wash.2d 1, 12-13, 721 P.2d 1 (1986). A summary judgment can be granted only if the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, and admissions on file demonstrate the absence of any genuine issues of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Wilson, 98 Wash.2d at 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (citation omitted). We construe all facts and reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Wilson, 98 Wash.2d at 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (citations omitted). And we review de novo statutory interpretations as a question of law. In re the Matter of Charles, 135 Wash.2d 239, 245, 955 P.2d 798 (1998) (citations omitted).

B. Did Eelbode allege sufficient facts to support the elements of a medical malpractice negligence action?

In opposition to Chec's motion for summary judgment, Eelbode submitted affidavits from two physical therapists and a chiropractor. In opining that Grothe negligently administered the back test, each relied upon how the incident had been "described," or a review of Grothe's records of the examination, or both. But Eelbode did not submit an affidavit describing first hand how the incident occurred. This failure forms the basis of Chec's argument that Eelbode has not set forth an adequate factual record of his claim. Specifically, Chec argues that Eelbode did not describe by affidavit how the test was administered or that he was injured as a result. Thus, according to Chec, Eelbode has not connected his experts' opinions that the test was negligently administered with the actual test he was given. We disagree.

In addition to affidavits from his own experts, Eelbode submitted an affidavit from Grothe. In it, she identified Chec's records of her examination of Eelbode. She also described the back test as "having the test subject lift using the back only, with legs locked, pulling up on a chain attached to a scale...." Further, she reported that although she could not "recall the specific events relating to Mr. Eelbode's alleged injury, it is clear to me that Mr. Eelbode expressed discomfort to me following the back torso strength test...." And Eelbode's experts stated in their affidavits that Grothe's description of the test was not the proper and accepted method of administering it.

Construing the facts and all reasonable inferences in favor of Eelbode, this is sufficient to create a factual issue of whether Grothe negligently administered the back strength test.

C. Requirement of Physician-Patient Relationship

Chec contends that Eelbode was not Grothe's patient and that a physician-patient relationship is required to subject a health-care practitioner to liability under Washington's comprehensive medical malpractice act.¹ Essentially, Chec argues that Grothe and Chec had no duty not to harm Eelbode.² We disagree.

The medical malpractice act sets forth three causes of action: (1) failure to follow the accepted standard of care; (2) failure to obtain informed consent; and (3) a promise that the injury would not occur. RCW 7.70.030. A cause of action for informed consent or a promise not to injure requires that the injured person be a patient. RCW 7.70.030(2), (3). But a claim of failure to follow the accepted standard of care does not require a physician-patient relationship. RCW 7.70.030(1). Moreover, the statute imposes liability for failure to follow the accepted standard of care upon any "health care provider." RCW 7.70.030(1). Although physical therapists are included in the statutory definition of "health care provider," so are opticians, pharmacists, and paramedics. RCW 7.70.020(1). Yet under most circumstances, the latter three professionals do not establish physician-patient relationships with the persons they serve. Daly v. United States, 946 F.2d 1467, 1469 (9th Cir.1991). Including these professionals as health care providers under the statute supports a legislative intent "to impose liability beyond the context of a physician-patient relationship." Daly, 946 F.2d at 1469.

In Daly the Ninth Circuit considered whether Washington law requires a physician-patient relationship in a claim for failure to follow the accepted standard of care. There, a doctor gave a pre-employment physical. The question was whether, in the absence of a physician-patient relationship, he had a duty to inform the person examined of abnormal test results. In holding that he did, the court relied upon McKee v. American Home Prods. Corp., 113 Wash.2d 701, 782 P.2d 1045 (1989) (pharmacist had a duty to warn of known or obvious errors in a prescription), and Harbeson v. Parke-Davis, Inc., 98 Wash.2d 460, 656 P.2d 483 (1983) (recognizing a cause of action for wrongful life without first finding a doctor-patient relationship between the physician and the unborn child). We agree with Daly's reasoning.

Further, we are persuaded by the nature of Eelbode's claim that no physician-patient relationship is required. Eelbode does not argue that Grothe is liable for failing to properly diagnose or treat, obligations that inhere in the physician-patient relationship. Rather, Eelbode claims only that Grothe undertook to administer a specific test and did so negligently, causing him harm. We hold that in this restricted circumstance, Grothe owed Eelbode a duty to administer the test according to accepted standards. And the facts of the case do not require that we set the outer limits of the duty owed by Grothe, or any physical therapist, in giving pre-employment physical examinations. Because we find a duty to follow accepted standards exists, we need not address Chec's argument that Eelbode must prove gross negligence.³

Finally, the weight of authority from other jurisdictions supports our conclusion that no physician-patient relationship is needed to create liability for a claimed failure to follow the accepted standard of care.⁴

D. Validity of the Release

Chec maintains that when Eelbode signed the release, he either (1) released Chec in advance from any liability for harm occurring during the exam, or (2) expressly assumed the risk of a back injury occurring during the examination.

1. Did the release cover negligence on the part of Chec employees?

The release signed by Eelbode states, in part:

To the fullest extent permitted by law, I hereby release Chec and the Washington Readicare Medical Group and its physicians from all liability arising from any injury to me resulting from my participation in the exam including, but not limited to, any injury resulting from my failure to provide information concerning my physical or mental condition or

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