Burroughs v. Magee

• Decision Date: 01 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. W2001-00238-SC-R11-CV.,W2001-00238-SC-R11-CV.
• Parties: Judy C. BURROUGHS, Individually and as Surviving Spouse and Personal Representative of the Estate of Harold L. Burroughs, Deceased v. Robert W. MAGEE, M.D.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

118 S.W.3d 323

Judy C. BURROUGHS, Individually and as Surviving Spouse and Personal Representative of the Estate of Harold L. Burroughs, Deceased v. Robert W. MAGEE, M.D.

No. W2001-00238-SC-R11-CV.

Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Jackson.

April 2003 Session Heard at Dyersburg.

October 1, 2003.

Order on Rehearing October 28, 2003.

J. Houston Gordon, Lyle Reid, and Jason G. Whitworth, Covington, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Judy C. Burroughs.

Hubert B. Jones and Gary H. Nichols, Dyersburg, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Robert W. Magee, M.D.

David L. Steed and Bryan K. Williams, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Amicus Curiae, Tennessee Medical Association.

OPINION

WILLIAM M. BARKER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which FRANK F. DROWOTA, III, C.J., and ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., J., joined. E. RILEY ANDERSON, J., filed a concurring and dissenting opinion. JANICE M. HOLDER, J., filed a concurring and dissenting opinion.

This is an action for damages for personal injury and wrongful death resulting from an automobile accident in which the plaintiff was injured and her husband was killed. The plaintiff filed suit against the driver of the other vehicle. The plaintiff later amended her complaint to assert a claim against the other driver's physician, alleging that on the day before the accident the physician negligently prescribed two medications to his patient (the other driver), medications that can impair a person's ability to drive, and that the physician failed to warn his patient of the risks of driving while under the influence of the two drugs. The trial court granted the physician's motion for summary judgment on the ground that the physician owed no duty of care to the plaintiff and her husband. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part; the intermediate court held that the physician owed a duty to the plaintiff and her husband to warn his patient of the risks of driving while under the influence of the prescribed drugs, but the court held that the physician owed no duty to the plaintiff or her husband in deciding whether or not to prescribe the medications to his patient. We affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.¹

The complaint alleges that at approximately 7:00 p.m. on July 31, 1997, Roger E. Hostetler ran a stop sign and that his truck collided with a car driven by Harold L. Burroughs. Mr. Burroughs' wife, Judy C. Burroughs (the plaintiff), was a passenger in the car driven by her husband. Mr. Burroughs was severely injured in the accident and subsequently died as a result of his injuries. Mrs. Burroughs sustained serious injuries in the accident.

Mrs. Burroughs filed suit against Mr. Hostetler, alleging that he "negligently, recklessly and with gross negligence and willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others," ran a stop sign and thereby caused the accident. The complaint alleges in the alternative that Mr. Hostetler negligently failed to properly inspect and/or maintain his vehicle, specifically his brakes.

Approximately eight months after filing her complaint, Mrs. Burroughs filed an amended complaint adding a second defendant, Robert W. Magee, M.D., who treated Mr. Hostetler on the day before the accident and prescribed two medications to him, medications that can affect a person's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.² In summary, the amended complaint alleges that Dr. Magee negligently prescribed the two medications to Mr. Hostetler and that Dr. Magee negligently failed to warn Hostetler of the risks of driving while under the influence of the two drugs.

The facts set out in the record indicate that on July 30, 1997 Mr. Hostetler went to the Ripley office of the Dyersburg Medical Group, where he was seen by Dr. Magee. (Mr. Hostetler had been a patient of that office since the mid-1980s. However, Dr. Magee did not join the group until 1996 and had not personally treated Mr. Hostetler prior to July 30, 1997.) Dr. Magee's office note from the July 30 visit states that Mr. Hostetler had been released from the hospital the previous week after suffering from heat exhaustion. The office note states that Mr. Hostetler presented with complaints of "persistent weakness in his upper extremities and recurrent headache." Dr. Magee's office note includes a reference to Mr. Hostetler being a truck driver.

After examining Mr. Hostetler, Dr. Magee prescribed two medications for him, Soma (a muscle relaxant) and Esgic-Plus (a barbiturate). Dr. Magee testified in his deposition that he prescribed the Soma to treat Mr. Hostetler's muscle cramps and the Esgic-Plus to treat his headaches.³ Both drugs act as depressants on the central nervous system and can affect a patient's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.

There are sharply disputed issues of fact as to whether Dr. Magee gave any warnings to Mr. Hostetler about the possible effects of the two drugs. Mr. Hostetler testified in his deposition that Dr. Magee gave him no warnings about the two drugs and did not advise against him driving while under the influence of the medications. On the other hand, Dr. Magee testified in an affidavit and in his deposition that he did give appropriate warnings to Mr. Hostetler about the medications. In his affidavit, Dr. Magee stated that he told Mr. Hostetler that taking Soma and Esgic-Plus at the same time "can cause an enhanced effect and requires him to exercise caution when taking them and [advised him] to follow the instructions I had given him not to drink, drive or operate machinery."⁴

Mr. Hostetler filled the two prescriptions at a local pharmacy. On the day of the accident, he took one Soma and one Esgic-Plus at breakfast (at approximately 10:00 a.m.) and again took one dose of each drug at lunch (at approximately 2:00 p.m.). Mr. Hostetler and the two people who were passengers in his pickup truck at the time of the accident each testified in their respective depositions that Hostetler had not consumed any alcohol on the day of the accident and had not taken any other drugs on that date.⁵

The investigating state trooper testified in his deposition that after the accident Mr. Hostetler was "thick tongued" in responding to questions and appeared to be "under the influence of something, whether it be alcohol or drugs or whatever." When asked by the trooper if he was taking any medications, Mr. Hostetler responded that he was taking two prescriptions "for his back." The trooper said that he performed a field sobriety test which showed no evidence that Mr. Hostetler was under the influence of alcohol.

Mr. Hostetler's medical chart indicated that other physicians in the group previously had prescribed Soma to Hostetler on a number of occasions, beginning in the mid-1980s and, most recently, in the spring of 1995. Mr. Hostetler's chart also indicated that physicians at the clinic had refused to prescribe Soma for him on several occasions. The last such occasion was on August 8, 1995. On that date, one of Dr. Magee's colleagues stated in an office note that the patient "was demanding that I prescribe the Soma for him and I have declined to do so because I think this has reached the stage of substance abuse and I don't feel that I should prescribe this medication for him to continue taking while driving a rig on the highways across the country."

In his deposition, Dr. Magee testified that he did not review the earlier notes indicating that Hostetler had been refused Soma prescriptions on several occasions. In particular, Dr. Magee did not review the note from the office visit on August 8, 1995. He conceded, however, that the note from August 8, 1995 was the second page of Mr. Hostetler's chart and that if he had merely turned the first page he would have seen the note. Dr. Magee testified that the earlier notes would not have affected his treatment decision; he stated that he would have prescribed Soma and Esgic-Plus to Mr. Hostetler even if he had read the earlier notes regarding the refused prescriptions.

The plaintiff alleges that Dr. Magee was negligent in failing to adequately review Mr. Hostetler's medical history contained in the medical chart. Mrs. Burroughs alleges that "it was obvious that Roger Ellis Hostetler was a truck driver with a known past history of abuse of prescribed medication, Soma, an addictive and potentially dangerous muscle relaxer" and that Dr. Magee therefore was negligent in prescribing Soma to Mr. Hostetler. Mrs. Burroughs also alleges that Dr. Magee negligently failed to warn Mr. Hostetler against driving while under the influence of the two drugs.⁶

Dr. Magee filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that Dr. Magee did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff or her husband. In addition, Dr. Magee asserted that his prescription of Soma and Esgic-Plus to Hostetler was not a cause of or a contributing factor to the accident. The trial court granted Dr. Magee's motion, finding that Dr. Magee owed no duty of care to the plaintiff and her husband. (The trial court's order did not address Dr. Magee's causation argument.) The plaintiff appealed the trial court's granting of the motion for summary judgment.⁷

The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part. The intermediate appellate court held that Dr. Magee owed a duty of care to the plaintiff and her husband to warn Mr. Hostetler of the risks of driving while under the influence of the prescribed drugs. The Court of Appeals, however, held that Dr. Magee owed no duty of care to the plaintiff and her husband in making prescription decisions regarding Mr. Hostetler's treatment.

We granted the plaintiff's application for permission to appeal pursuant to Rule 11, Tenn. R.App. P. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The existence or nonexistence of a duty owed to the plaintiff by the defendant is a question of law to be determined by the court. Staples v. CBL & Associates, Inc., 15 S.W.3d 83, 89 (Tenn.2000); Rice v....