Case ID: us-ct-cl_37/html/0476-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Peelle, J.,", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

GEORGE O. COFFIN v. THE UNITED STATES.
    [No. 22559.
    Decided May 19, 1902.]
    
      On the Proofs.
    
    A physician in civil life is requested on the breaking out of the war with Spain to take charge of the sick in a number of hospitals. He employs at his own cost medical assistants and clerical help. The chief surgeon of the military department agrees that he shall receive SI for each patient. The claimant at the end of the first month makes out his bill at that rate. It is approved and paid; and the claimant continues to act. For subsequent services, without notice of any proposed reduction, the accounting officers allow only 50 cents a patient.
    I. The employment by competent authority of a physician in civil life to care for sick soldiers in time of war is a contract entitling him to reasonable compensation for the service.
    II. Where a physician’s account is approved and paid at a designated rate of compensation, and he is continued in the employment, he has a right to infer that it will be at the same rate of compensation.
    
      The Reporters’ statement of the case:
    The following are the facts of the case as found by the court:
    I. That the claimant is a citizen of the United States and a resident of Kansas City, in the State of Missouri, and has always borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States. .
    II. September 5, 1898, acting chief quartermaster, Capt. John Baxter, United States Army, who was on that' date at Kansas City, Mo., informed the Adjutant-General at W ashing-ton, D. C., as follows:
    “Here to make necessary arrangements for Third Missouri Volunteers. Will more than one regiment be ordered to this place? Shall I arrange to have sick placed in city hospitals upon arrival? Answer, care of mayor, Kansas Ghy. Baxter, Acting Chief Quartermaster.”
    to which the following answer was made:
    “Adjutant-General’s Office,Washington, September 6,1898. Baxter, Acting Chief Quartermaster, care mayor, Kansas City, Mo.: Having reference to your telegram September fifth, confer with mustering officer about number of regiments. You will also arrange to take care of sick. By order of Secretary of War: Heistand, Assistant Adjutant-General:”
    On the same date there was addressed to the claimant a communication, of which the following- is a copy:
    “KANSAS City, Mo., Sept. 6, 1898.
    
    “Dr. G. O. Coffin, Kansas Olty, Mo.
    
    “Sib: You have been. designated by his excellency the mayor as a most suitable person to take the matter in hand. I hereby request you to arrange for the seriously sick of the Third and Fifth Kegiments Missouri Volunteers at the various hospitals, and to receive and transfer them to same upon arrival of the regiments in question.
    “I guarantee on the part of the Government that all bills for this service will be paid as promptly as they can be prepared and audited.
    “I am, sir, very respectfully, etc.,
    John BaxteR, Jr.,
    “ Oapt. and Assistant Qumtermast&rA
    
    III. Pursuant to the authority set forth in the preceding finding, the claimant accepted the employment, and on September 8, 1898, entered upon the discharge of his duties in looking after the sick and providing for their care in the hospitals in Kansas City, and in doing so he employed at his own expense such medical, clerical, and other assistance as he deemed necessary to care for them properly, devoting most of his time thereto, to the neglect of his private practice, until February 4, 1899, a period of four months and twenty-seven days.
    That said services were rendered under the immediate supervision of Maj. E. C. Koerper, surgeon, United States Army, and chief surgeon Department of Missouri, with headquarters at Omaha, Nebr.
    On September 28, 1898, the claimant addressed a letter to said Major and Surgeon Koerper, United States Army, requesting, in substance, information as to when and the manner in which he should present his bill for the services so rendered and soliciting any suggestions that he might have to make. In response to this he w'as advised that his account for such services should be forwarded to the chief surgeon’s office for action, and suggesting 50 cents per day for each patient, to which the claimant, on September 30, 1898, replied, in substance, that he recognized hospital patients were more readily taken care of than from house-to-house visits, but that those in Kansas City were located in four different hospitals, which rendered it impossible for him to give them all his individual attention, and for that reason it was necessary for him to employ two assistants besides extra expense in clerical hire; that the rates per visit in Kansas City were $2, and he hoped that said chief surgeon would think the matter over and advise him concerning it. In response to this said chief surgeon replied, October 1, 1898: “Make out your bills for what you think is right. The 50 cents per man per day was simply a suggestion of the chief surgeon.”
    IY. For the services so performed by the claimant he presented his account for September, 1898, at the rate of $1 per day per man so cared for, aggregating 1,028 men, for which he rendered his account for $1,028, which was approved by said Maj. E. C. Koerper, chief surgeon Department of Missouri, for $1,025 (there being an error of $3), and was subsequently paid by the accounting officers in full.
    Y. Thereafter for like services performed by the claimant he rendered his accounts monthly for October, November, and December, 1898, and January and up to February 4, 1899, at the rate of $1 per man per day, aggregating the sum of $5,253, which the court finds was reasonable for the services so performed, including the expenses incurred by the claimant in the employment of medical assistants and clerical help. That none of said monthly accounts so submitted (except that for September, as aforesaid) was acted upon by the Surgeon-General United States Army, or by the accounting officers, nor was the claimant notified that he would be required to accept less than the rate so charged until after the services had been performed, when said accounts were finally acted upon by them and allowed and paid in the sum of only $2,705.50, leaving due and unpaid on said monthly accounts the" sum of $2,547.50.
    VI. At the time of the employment of the claimant, and during the rendition of the services as aforesaid, there was in force army regulation 1459 of 1895, as follows:
    “1459. The following rates of charges for ordinary medical attendance by civilian physicians will not be exceeded, and if the local charge per visit is less, the account will be rendered at the local rates: For attending sick call, five men or less, $2.50; for each man attending at sick call in excess of five, 50 cents; for additional visit or sick call on same day, when necessary, §2. In making arrangements with physicians for medical attendance upon garrisoned posts or large detachments it should be understood that, while the rates above specified are not to be exceeded (unless in exceptional cases), it does not follow that this schedule of rates is necessarily to govern in cases where there is a large sick report. Where the service is for several days or for an extended period, the rate of payment for such service should not exceed $125 per month. Accounts of physicians not under contract for service at military posts will be forwarded in duplicate to the chief surgeon. Accounts for service at independent posts and stations will be forwarded direct to the Surgeon-General.”
    It does not appear that the claimant had anjr personal notice or knowledge of the existence of said regulation when he accepted said employment or when he performed said services.
    VII. During the performance of said services it became necessary to employ assistants, which the claimant did at his own expense, employing therefor Dr. Brown, at $60 per month; Dr. Manahan, at $50; and Dr. Eastman, at $75 per month.
    
      Messrs. Stockslager ds Heard for the claimant.
    
      Mr. John Q. Thompson (with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney- General Pradt) for the defendants.
   Peelle, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The claimant, a physician, seeks to recover $2,547.50, alleged to be the balance due him for professional services rendered in caring for the sick members of the Third and Fifth regiments, Missouri Volunteers, confined in various hospitals in Kansas City, Mo., from September 8, 1898, to February 4,1899.

Capt. John Baxter, United States Army, acting chief quartermaster, then in Kansas City, inquired of the Adjutant-General, under date of September 5,1898, among other things, as follows: “ Shall I arrange to have sick placed in the city hospitals upon arrival?” To which the Assistant Adjutant-General (Iieistand), by order of the Secretary of War, among other things, answered: “ You will also arrange to take care of the sick.”

Under the authority thus conferred, Captain Baxter, assistant quartermaster, addressed a communication to the claimant in these words:

“ KANSAS City, Mo., Sept. 6,1898.
“Dr. G. O. Coffin,
“Kansas City, Mo.
“Sir: You have been designated by his excellency the mayor as a most suitable person to take the matter in hand. I hereby request you to arrange for the seriously sick of the Third and Fifth regiments, Missouri Volunteers, at the various hospitals, and to receive and transfer them to same upon arrival of the regiments in question.
“I guarantee on the part of the Government that all bills for this service will be paid as promptly as they can be prepared and audited.
“ I am, sir, very respectfully, etc.,
“JohN Baxter, Jr.,
Ccvpt. and Assistant Quartermaster, TJ. S. Army.”

Two days later the claimant entered upon the discharge of his duties in looking after the sick and providing' for their necessities in hospitals in Kansas City, and to that end employed at his own expense such medical assistants and clerical help as he deemed necessary to care for them properly, devoting most of his time thereto, to the neglect of his pri•vate practice, until February 4,1899.

The claimant’s services were rendered under the immediate supervision of Maj. E. C. Koerper, United States Army, chief surgeon, Department of Missouri, of whom the claimant, on September 28, after his entry upon the discharge of his duties, inquired as to whom and the manner in which he should render his account for services so performed, in response to which the chief surgeon answered him that his account should be forwarded to his office for action, and suggested to the claimant 50 cents per ckiy for each patient, to which the claimant made objection, and in response thereto the chief surgeon, among other things, advised the claimant as follows: “Make out your bills for what you think is right. Tbe 50 cents per man per dajr was simply a suggestion of the chief surgeon. ”

Thereupon the claimant made out his account at the rate of Si per da3'' for each patient, amounting to Si,028, which was approved by said chief surgeon for SI, 025 — there being an error of $3 — which was subsequently paid in full by the accounting officers.

For like services rendered by the claimant in October, November, and December, 1898, and January and up to Februaiy, 1899, the claimant rendered monthty accounts for $1 per day for each patient so professionally treated by him, amounting in the aggregate to $5,253, but that none of said accounts so rendered was acted upon by the Surgeon-General of the Army, nor was the claimant advised by anyone that he would be paid a less rate than that ho was paid for services so rendered in September previous, until after the expiration of the services so rendered b}r him, when they were finally acted upon and the claimant was paid thereon the sum of $2,705.50, leaving due on the several accounts so rendered the sum of $2,547.50; hence this suit.

At the time of the claimant’s employment and the rendition of said services there was in force in the War Department regulation 1459, set forth in the findings, providing for charges for ordinary medical attendance by civilian physicians as therein sot forth, but it does not appear that the claimant had any notice or knowledge thereof prior to his employment and the rendition of the services aforesaid.

The question presented, therefore, is as to whether under the facts of the case the claimant is entitled to recover $1 per day for each patient so treated by him as upon a contract or otherwise.

The letter of Captain Baxter, assistant quartermaster, United States Army, under date September 6, 1898, to the claimant, by authority of the Secretary of War, requesting the claimant “ to arrange for the seriously sick of the Third and Fifth regiments, Missouri Volunteers, at the hospitals,” in Kansas City, with the ‘‘guaranty on the part of the Government that all bills for this service will be paid as promptly as they can be prepared and audited,” together with the acceptance thereof by the claimant and his entry upon and discharge of the duties, were sufficient to constitute a contract between the claimant and the Government for the performance of said services. And the claimant, having performed the services for which he was employed, is entitled to reasonable compensation therefor.

When the claimant’s account for $1 per man per day for the first month was approved and paid, as before stated, he had the right to presume that that rate had been accepted bjr the officers of the Government having to do therewith as reasonable, and that for like services, to be thereafter performed under the same contract of employment, he would be paid the same rate; and, acting upon that, he presented his accounts for subsequent months at the same rate, but they were not acted upon until after he had performed the services for which the accounts were rendered, and then, without any notice to him, they wore reduced one-half.

The claimant having been employed by authority of the Secretary of War to perform the services he did, and, too, without any knowledge of the Army Regulation fixing the rates for ordinary medical attendance by civilian physicians, and the rate of $1 per day per man, whether regarded as a contract or not, being reasonable as found, we think the claimant is entitled to recover the balance due, $2,547.50; this, of course, to be in full compensation for his services as well as for the expenses incurred by him in the employment of medical assistants and clerical help, as set forth in the findings; and judgment is according!]'' ordered to be entered.