Beaman v. Helton

• Decision Date: 19 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-IA-0588,89-IA-0588
• Citation: 573 So.2d 776
• Parties: John M. BEAMAN, M.D. v. Van E. HELTON and Vivian Wynelle Helton.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 776

573 So.2d 776

John M. BEAMAN, M.D. v. Van E. HELTON and Vivian Wynelle Helton.

No. 89-IA-0588.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Dec. 19, 1990.

J. Robert Ramsay, Nancy E. Steen, Bryant Colingo, Williams Clark Ramsay & Hammond, Hattiesburg, for appellant.

E. Fred Dobbins, Leakesville, for appellee.

Before ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and ROBERTSON and BLASS, JJ.

BLASS, Justice, for the Court:

This is a medical malpractice case. Van E. Helton, now deceased, and Vivian Helton, plaintiffs below and appellees here, brought suit against Dr. John Beaman for failure to inform them of a certain abnormality which appeared in the x-rays of Mr. Helton at his physical examination made at the request of the Disability Determination Service (DDS) of the Social Security Administration. Dr. Beaman's motion for summary judgment was denied and on May 4, 1989, this Court granted an interlocutory appeal on the question of whether a physician-patient relationship existed between Mr. Helton and Dr. Beaman.

The essential facts are not disputed. Mr. Van Helton sought social security benefits and his examination was ordered by the Disability Determination Service of the Department of Rehabilitation of the State of Mississippi and Dr. Beaman was employed by DDS to conduct the examination. Mr. Helton did not select or pay Dr. Beaman. Dr. Beaman had not treated him before, nor was he to treat him afterwards. X-rays were made of Mr. Helton during examination and after Mr. Helton had left Dr. Beaman's office a study of the developed x-ray film revealed, in Dr. Beaman's opinion, "probable pulmonary malignancy." That same evening he dictated his report by telephone directly to DDS, specifically stating his impression that Mr. Helton had a probable pulmonary malignancy, and "strongly" recommended that the DDS examiner contact Mr. Helton so that he could contact his personal physician and that he be advised to "follow up this problem." Dr. Beaman concluded in his report "Impression: probably pulmonary malignancy." DDS failed to contact Mr. Helton and inform him of the abnormality observed and reported by Dr. Beaman. Mr. Helton did not discover the fact that he had a malignancy until July of 1986, after the Social Security Administration had denied his claim of disability benefits.

Regardless of what may have been the consequences of the delay in starting chemotherapy for the treatment of this malignancy, Dr. Beaman contends that there can be no liability imposed on him as a result of the failure of DDS to timely notify Mr. Helton of the doctor's findings because there was no physician/patient relationship between Mr. Helton and Dr. Beaman. The plaintiff concedes that there was no physician/patient relationship but contends that the doctor's dictating his report by telephone to a tape recorder in the DDS office was not in compliance with the regulations of DDS. That statement is made in the brief in the Statement of Facts, but is nowhere else addressed or further asserted in the brief. Helton agrees that Dr. Beaman would not have been liable had he failed to diagnose, or to treat, or had he misdiagnosed a condition. He asserts that Dr. Beaman correctly diagnosed the malignancy, noted it and dictated a report by telephone to the tape recorder, which included his impression of the probable pulmonary malignancy. The appellant's brief does not explain how this action on Dr. Beaman's part constituted a breach of any duty owed to Mr. Helton.

This Court has uniformly held that a physician/patient relationship must be established in order to make out a prima facie case of medical malpractice. Thompson v. Carter, 518 So.2d 609 (Miss.1987); Boyd v. Lynch, 493 So.2d 1315 (Miss.1986); Hammond v. Grissom, 470 So.2d 1049 (Miss.1985); Satcher v. Wiser, 483 So.2d 694 (Miss.1986). As stated above, all parties agree that no such relationship existed between the person being examined and the doctor in this case. See also, L. Frumer, Personal Injury, Sec. 1.02[b] (1987). Dr. Beaman, in his brief, sets out a number of cases in other states holding that, in fact situations similar to the one here, there was no physician/patient relationship created. As stated above, that question is not disputed and, as a matter of law and in the face of that admission, we must hold that no such relationship existed.

The appellee, plaintiff below, seems to assert, however, that there is some duty owed by the physician to the examinee outside of the physician/patient relationship, citing the dissent in Peace v. Weisman, 186 Ga.App. 697, 368 S.E.2d 319 (1988). That dissent argues that the application of the strict definition of physician/patient relationship produces the "intolerable result" reached by the majority. The majority opinion, however, accords with the earlier decisions of this Court. The plaintiff cites two Maryland cases, Hoover v. Williamson, 236 Md. 250, 203 A.2d 861 (1964) and Betesh v. United States, 400 F.Supp. 238 (D.D.C.1974), and one case from Ohio, Meinze v. Holmes, 40 Ohio App.3d 143, 532 N.E.2d 170 (1987) which appear to impose a duty upon the examining physician that is independent of the physician/patient relationship. This Court has held to the contrary and, certainly under the facts existing in this case, we are not willing to extend or disturb the established rule in this state. We observe that the "Medical Examination Guidelines for Consultative Physicians" furnished by Disability Determination Services to the examining physician contains this language:

It is considered desirable to make significant medical information from consultative examinations available to the attending physician or medical institution for treatment purposes, provided the individual authorizes such release. Referral to the claimant's treating source is particularly important where the information reveals a previously undiagnosed condition that may require immediate treatment. Our agency is responsible for making prompt identification and referral of consultative examination reports to attending physicians when the examination reflects diagnostic information or test results which would be of significance to the claimant's treatment. However, you, the consultative physician, are requested to notify the examiner handling the case immediately if you suspect a life-threatening condition, and we will immediately take steps to notify a treating physician. If the file reveals there is no treating source, or if the treating source is not known, our Agency advises the claimant in writing to see a physician for additional testing. You may, at your discretion, advise the claimant, while he is still in your office, when you feel he/she should see a treating physician for additional diagnostic studies.

It appears that Dr. Beaman complied with the provisions of the manual and in so doing discharged his duty to the examinee.

Accordingly, it being conceded that no relationship of physician and patient existed between the examinee and Dr. Beaman, and the evidence before the Court making it clear that Dr. Beaman breached no duty owed to the examinee, summary judgment should have been for the defendant.

REVERSED AND RENDERED.

ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS, P.J., PRATHER, ROBERTSON and ANDERSON, JJ., concur.

SULLIVAN, J., dissents, joined by DAN M. LEE, P.J., and PITTMAN, J.

SULLIVAN, Justice, dissenting:

The majority's holding that summary judgment should have been in favor of Dr. Beaman, the defendant below, is based on the finding that the Heltons conceded that no relationship existed between Dr. Beaman and Mr. Helton, the examinee, and that the evidence before this Court clearly proved that Dr. Beaman breached no duty to the examinee. Had the Heltons in fact made such an admission and had the issue before us been to review the circuit court judge's finding that the evidence presented in the motion for summary judgment proved that Dr. Beaman breached no duty, I would agree with the majority under those limited circumstances.

However, there was no such admission from the Heltons and there was no finding by the trial judge on the evidence presented on the motion for summary judgment. In this interlocutory appeal we are presented with one issue only: whether a "nontraditional" doctor-patient relationship is created when a physician examines an individual at the request of a third party, and if not, whether a doctor owes a duty despite the absence of a doctor-patient relationship. Under the circumstances of this case I would find that Dr. Beaman owed Mr. Helton a duty to act with reasonable care regardless of the existence of a doctor-patient relationship.

When Dr. Beaman examined Mr. Helton, a relationship was established to the extent that Mr. Helton could reasonably expect Dr. Beaman to notify him of a life threatening condition which required immediate treatment. This relationship may be said to arise either from a limited extension of the "traditional" doctor-patient relationship or from our general law of negligence applied when one undertakes to act. It is unconscionable to deny recovery for damages caused to an examinee by a physician's negligence when the physician has acted positively in examining an individual at the request of and payment by a third party. While the duty owed should not be coextensive to the duty owed to "traditional" patients whom a physician has agreed to treat medically, a duty should be imposed to the extent of the examination. I would remand this case to determine whether there exist genuine issues of material fact as to breach of duty, proximate cause, and damages.

There is no question that Dr. Beaman examined Mr. Helton at the request of the Disability Determination Service. Dr. Beaman took a chest x-ray of Mr. Helton and while reading the x-ray discovered a spot on Mr. Helton's lung which indicated that Helton likely had a malignant tumor. At that time rather than make a phone call to the examinee which would have taken at most five minutes, Dr....