Bennett v. Madakasira
| Decision Date | 21 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 1999-CA-00266-SCT, No. 1999-CA-01656-SCT, No. 1999-CA-00756-SCT., No. 1999-CA-00755-SCT |
| Citation | 821 So.2d 794 |
| Parties | Gerald BENNETT, As Conservator of the Estate and Person OF James W. Bennett v. Sudhakar MADAKASIRA, M.D. Gerald Bennett, As Conservator of the Estate and Person of James W. Bennett v. Eli Lilly and Company and Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc. Gerald Bennett, As Conservator of the Estate and Person of James W. Bennett v. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc. and Jeffery A. Ali, M.D. Gerald Bennett, As Conservator of the Estate and Person of James W. Bennett v. Jeffery A. Ali, M.D., Eli Lilly and Company and Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Kenneth R. Watkins, Gulfport, attorney for appellant.
Lisa L. Williams, Lee Davis Thames, R.E. Parker, Leslie Joyner Bobo, Christy D. Jones, Lynn P. Risley, William F. Goodman, III, Jackson, attorneys for appellees.
Before PITTMAN, C.J., WALLER and CARLSON, JJ.
WALLER, J., for the court.
¶ 1. On October 19, 1994, James W. Bennett ("Jake") killed his wife by stabbing her more than 200 times. He was indicted, tried and found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity and confined at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield. A conservatorship for Jake's estate was established with Jake's son, Kevin, named as conservator.1 Kevin filed several lawsuits pertaining to Jake's medical care and course of treatment prior to the murder and Jake's subsequent confinement at Whitfield. In the lawsuits Kevin alleges that Sudhakar Madakasira, M.D., a Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and its medical center ("UMMC"), and Jeffery A. Ali, M.D., an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at UMMC and a member of University Psychiatric Associates, were negligent in prescribing certain drugs for Jake and that the drugs' manufacturers, Eli Lilly and Company and Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., were negligent in failing to warn adequately of the drugs' propensity to cause violent behavior. After summary judgment was granted to each of the four defendants, Kevin filed an appeal to this Court. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.
FACTS
¶ 2. In 1994, Jake was being treated by S.H. Subramony, M.D. On August 14, 1994, Jake informed Dr. Subramony that he suspected that his wife was tampering with his medications. Dr. Subramony felt that it was imperative for Jake to see a psychiatrist that day and called the University of Mississippi Department of Psychiatry for a referral. The Department asked Dr. Ali to see Jake.
¶ 3. Dr. Ali noted that Jake had been prescribed Librium, Doxepin for depression, Librax for stomach problems, and Klonopin for myoclonic jerks, that there had been "an unclear prescribing pattern," and that Jake had seen many neurologists and internists. Jake was also taking Captopril, Hydrochlorothlorothiazide and Zantac. After examining Jake, Dr. Ali diagnosed major depression with anxiety symptoms. Dr. Ali decided that the best course of treatment would be to continue the Librium, Librax and Klonopin (all manufactured by Hoffmann-LaRoche), and that Prozac (manufactured by Eli Lilly) be added to the medical regimen. Because Dr. Ali had recently moved to Mississippi and had not yet obtained a DEA number which was required for writing certain prescriptions, Dr. Ali consulted with Dr. Madakasira. Dr. Ali explained to Dr. Madakasira that he was hesitant to take Jake off the Librium, Librax and Klonopin all at once because severe withdrawal symptoms might occur. Dr. Madakasira agreed with Dr. Ali's judgment and wrote prescriptions for the Librium, Librax and Klonopin. Dr. Ali wrote the prescription for the Prozac.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 4. We conduct a de novo review of orders granting summary judgment and consider all the evidentiary matters before it—admissions in pleadings, answers to interrogatories, depositions, affidavits, etc. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Berry, 669 So.2d 56, 70 (Miss.1996). A motion for summary judgment may be granted only where there is no genuine issue of material fact; summary judgment is not a substitute for the trial of disputed facts. APAC-Miss., Inc. v. Goodman, 803 So.2d 1177, 1180 (Miss.2002); Brown v. Credit Ctr., Inc., 444 So.2d 358, 362 (Miss.1983). Issues of fact sufficient to require denial of a motion for summary judgment obviously are present where one party swears to one version of the matter in issue and another says the opposite. Berry, 669 So.2d at 70. Where summary judgment is at issue, "[t]he evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion has been made." Id. In those instances, "[a]ll that is required of a non-movant to survive a motion for summary judgment is to establish a genuine issue of material fact...." Simmons v. Thompson Mach. of Miss., Inc., 631 So.2d 798, 801 (Miss.1994).
ANALYSIS
I. WHETHER THE GRANT OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO DR. ALI WAS APPROPRIATE.
¶ 5. Under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, Miss.Code Ann. §§ 11-46-1 to -23 (Supp.2001), no state employee is personally liable for acts or omissions occurring within the course and scope of his duties. Id. § 11-46-7(2). Physicians who practice medicine at UMMC may be granted immunity from liability for their negligent acts if the acts complained of were committed during the course and scope of their employment at UMMC. Smith v. Braden, 765 So.2d 546, 550 (Miss.2000). On the other hand, if the acts complained of were committed while the physician was acting as an independent contractor, no immunity is afforded.2 ¶ 6. In support of his motion for summary judgment, Dr. Ali submitted a copy of his employment contract with the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. The contract shows that he would be paid a monthly salary and that, in addition to this salary, Dr. Ali:
¶ 7. The circuit court found that Dr. Ali was, for purposes of these lawsuits, an employee of UMMC and therefore entitled to immunity:
Dr. Ali adduced overwhelming credible evidence that he was, in fact, an employee of the University Medical Center at all times relevant to this matter. Dr. Ali presented the Court with an affidavit of Marjorie Soloman, the Director of Human Resources of the University Medical Center, which stated in no uncertain terms that all treatment allegedly provided to James W. Bennett by Dr. Ali, at all times relevant to this lawsuit, was provided in the course and scope of Dr. Ali's employment with the University Medical Center through the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. In addition, Dr. Ali presented the Court with a copy of his employment contract which evidences the nature of his relationship with the University Medical Center as an employee of the Hospital and not as an independent contractor. To that end, this Court finds that Dr. Ali is an employee as defined under the MTCA
¶ 8. We have recently remanded a medical malpractice case for further discovery as to the doctor's employment status. The defendant doctor was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UMMC, as well as a member of two medical practice partnerships. After examining the partnership agreements which limited membership to UMMC faculty members and which referred to each member's "private practice," we found that genuine issues of fact existed as to the employment status of the defendant doctor. Smith, 765 So.2d at 550-51.
¶ 9. In the instant case, we do not have the benefit of a copy of the partnership agreement between Dr. Ali and University Psychiatric Associates. In Smith, we reversed and remanded for further discovery even when the partnership agreement was a part of the record. On the record presented on appeal, a determination of Dr. Ali's relationship to the private patient association cannot be made.
¶ 10. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the record of the circumstances under which Dr. Ali saw Jake as a patient: as an associate professor for UMMC or as a member of the University Psychiatric Associates. The circuit court relied upon affidavits submitted by UMMC officials. However, the record contains no details of how Jake was billed for Dr. Ali's services and whether the bill included a separate charge for physician services that would go in whole, or in part, directly or indirectly, to Dr. Ali.
¶ 11. We find that the record is insufficient to support a grant of summary judgment to Dr. Ali and that genuine issues of fact exist. We therefore reverse and remand to the circuit court for further proceedings.
II. WHETHER THE GRANT OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO DR. MADAKASIRA WAS APPROPRIATE.
¶ 12. As stated previously, Dr. Ali consulted with Dr. Madakasira on his treatment for Jake, and, because Dr. Ali had not yet obtained a DEA number, Dr. Madakasira wrote certain prescriptions for Jake. There is no indication in the record whether Dr. Madakasira was a member of a private medical group within UMMC, as was Dr. Ali.
¶ 13. We have set out a five-part test to follow in determining whether a physician who practices at a public hospital is subject to the MTCA and thereby granted immunity. Miller v. Meeks, 762 So.2d 302 (Miss.2000). A court is to consider:
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