Case Title: Ervin v. American Guardian Life Assur.

Citation: 376 Pa. Super. 132, 545 A.2d 354

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 1988-07-29T00:00:00Z

Document:
376 Pa. Superior Ct. 132 (1988) 545 A.2d 354 Donna C. ERVIN and Donna C. Ervin, Executrix of the Estate of Thomas J. Ervin, Deceased, Appellant, v. AMERICAN GUARDIAN LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY and Norman S. Knee, D.O., Appellees. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued April 26, 1988. Filed July 29, 1988. Timothy J. Savage, Philadelphia, for appellant. *133 Edward C. Mintzer, Jr., Philadelphia, for Knee, appellee. Before CAVANAUGH, WIEAND and DEL SOLE, JJ. WIEAND, Judge: In this appeal from an order sustaining preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer and entering judgment for the defendant physician, the sole issue is whether the physician who, at the request of the insurance company which employed him, examined the electrocardiogram (EKG) of an applicant for insurance, owed a duty to the applicant to discover and disclose heart abnormalities recorded by the electrocardiogram. For reasons hereinafter stated, we agree with the trial court that in the absence of a physician-patient relationship or other basis for imposing upon the physician a duty to the applicant, there can be no recovery by the applicant for the physician's failure to discover or disclose such an abnormality to the applicant. Therefore, we affirm. In reviewing the trial court's order sustaining preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer, we accept as true all material facts alleged in the complaint, as well as inferences reasonably deducible therefrom. Gentile v. West American Insurance Exchange, 367 Pa.Super. 99, 104-105, 532 A.2d 472, 475 (1987). See also: Kyle v. McNamara & Criste, 506 Pa. 631, 487 A.2d 814 (1985); Halliday v. Beltz, 356 Pa.Super. 375, 514 A.2d 906 (1986). Moreover, *134 Alumni Ass'n. v. Sullivan, 369 Pa.Super. 596, 600-601, 535 A.2d 1095, 1098 (1987). The complaint in the instant case was filed by Donna C. Ervin in her own right and on behalf of the estate of her deceased husband, Thomas J. Ervin. She alleged that Thomas Ervin had applied to American Guardian Life Assurance Company (American) for term life insurance and that in connection therewith he had submitted to a physical examination at the request of American. As a part of the physical examination, which had been conducted by physicians employed by American on February 6, 1985, an EKG was taken. This EKG was subsequently examined for American by the defendant, Dr. Norman S. Knee, who was American's medical director. On March 1, 1985, less than a month later, Thomas Ervin died of a heart attack. The complaint alleges that the EKG disclosed that Ervin had suffered a prior myocardial infarction and that other cardiac abnormalities existed which Dr. Knee had negligently failed to discover, or, in the alternative, had failed to report to Ervin.[1] If they had been disclosed, according to the complaint, Ervin's death could have been avoided. In sustaining Dr. Knee's preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer, the trial court reasoned as follows: The trial court also relied upon this Court's decision in Craddock v. Gross, 350 Pa.Super. 575, 504 A.2d 1300 (1986), where we held that a physician who had examined a workmen's compensation claimant on behalf of a compensation insurance carrier did not owe to the claimant a duty which would support a medical malpractice action. Other jurisdictions have reached the same conclusion. See, e.g.: Cook v. Optimum/Ideal Managers, Inc., 130 Ill.App.3d 180, 84 Ill.Dec. 933, 473 N.E.2d 334 (1984); Keene v. Wiggins, 69 Cal. App. 3d 308, 138 Cal. Rptr. 3 (1977); Johnston v. Sibley, 558 S.W.2d 135 (Tex.Civ.App. 1977); Rogers v. Horvath, 65 Mich.App. 644, 237 N.W.2d 595 (1975); LoDico v. Caputi, 129 A.D.2d 361, 517 N.Y.S.2d 640 (1987). The Michigan court in Rogers v. Horvath, supra, explained the reason for the rule as follows: Id. 65 Mich.App. at 646-647, 237 N.W.2d at 596-597 (footnotes omitted). It has also been held that a doctor examining a job applicant on behalf of a prospective employer owes no duty to the applicant to diagnose disease. Lotspeich v. Chance Vought Aircraft, 369 S.W.2d 705 (Tex.Civ.App. 1963). The plaintiff in Lotspeich alleged that the doctor had been negligent in failing to discover from X-rays taken as a part of a pre-employment physical that she had tuberculosis. In holding that the doctor owed no duty to the job applicant, the Lotspeich court stated that the job applicant had no legal right to demand that the doctor exercise any care whatsoever in conducting the examination "except to avoid injuring her." Lotspeich v. Chance Vought Aircraft, supra at 710. See also: Wilcox v. Salt Lake City Corp., 26 Utah 2d 78, 484 P.2d 1200 (1971); Riste v. General Electric Co., 47 Wash. 2d 680, 289 P.2d 338 (1955); New York Central R.Co. v. Wiler, 124 Ohio St. 118, 177 N.E. 205 (1931). Cf. Thomas v. Kenton, 425 So. 2d 396 (La.App. 1982) (employee did not state a claim for relief where complaint alleged that plant physician failed to inform him of progressive deterioration of employee's lung condition since no physician-patient relationship existed between plant physician and employee). Thus, "[t]he general rule is that a physician who is retained by a third party to conduct an examination of another person and report the results to the third party does not enter into a physician-patient relationship with the examinee and is not liable to the examinee for any losses he suffers as a result of the conclusions the physician reaches or reports." Proof of Facts: Existence of Physician and Patient Relationship, 46 P.O.F.2d 373, 384. See also: 61 Am.Jur.2d Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Healers §§ 296-298. This general rule was explained by the California Court in Keene v. Wiggins, supra, as follows: Id. 69 Cal. App. 3d at 313, 138 Cal. Rptr. at 6-7 (footnotes omitted). See: Annotation: Physician's Duties and Liabilities to Persons Examined Pursuant to Physician's Contract With Such Person's Prospective or Actual Employer or Insurer, 10 A.L.R.3d 1071 (1966); Hoover v. Williamson, 236 Md. 250, 203 A.2d 861 (1964). See also: Annotation: What Constitutes Physician-Patient Relationship for Malpractice Purposes, 17 A.L.R.4th 132 (1982); Ahnert v. Wildman, 176 Ind.App. 630, 376 N.E.2d 1182 (1978). In Hoover v. Williamson, supra, the plaintiff had been examined by a physician on behalf of the plaintiff's employer. The doctor undertook to advise the plaintiff and misrepresented to him the seriousness of his condition. The Maryland Court of Appeals found that the doctor's affirmative acts in advising the plaintiff had created a duty on the part of the physician to exercise due care in advising plaintiff because, under the peculiar facts of that case, the existence of a physician-patient relationship had been created. However, the court carefully limited its holding by *138 stating that normally a doctor incurs no liability absent a physician-patient relationship. Specifically, the court said: Hoover v. Williamson, supra 236 Md. at 253, 255, 203 A.2d at 863-864 (footnote omitted). Cf. Bouligny v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 133 S.W.2d 1094 (Mo.App. 1939) (no professional relationship exists between applicant for life insurance and medical examiner for insurance company, thus, medical examiner's report to insurance company is not privileged communication); Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Evans, 183 Miss. 859, 184 So. 426 (1938) (same). But see: Betesh v. United States, 400 F. Supp. 238 (D.D.C. 1974); Beadling v. Sirotta, 41 N.J. 555, 197 A.2d 857 (1964); Ferguson v. Wolkin, 131 Misc.2d 304, 499 N.Y.S.2d 356 (1986). Our review of the foregoing authorities leads us to the conclusion that the defendant physician in the instant case owed no duty to the plaintiff's decedent either to discover his heart problem or, having discovered it, to inform the decedent thereof. The defendant had been employed by American to advise the company whether the applicant was an insurable risk. He was not employed to make a diagnosis for the applicant or to treat the applicant for any condition which was discovered. Neither was there any evidence that the defendant, by giving the applicant advice or otherwise, had assumed a physician-patient relationship. In the absence of a physician-patient relationship between defendant and the applicant, the defendant physician did not owe a duty to the applicant to discover and disclose that the applicant was suffering from heart abnormalities. Appellant's reliance on Section 324A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts to create a duty on the defendant's part is misplaced. Section 324A provides: There are no averments in the instant complaint that the defendant physician acted for the benefit of anyone other than the insurance company which had employed him. The defendant's purpose in reading the insurance applicant's EKG had not been to treat or otherwise benefit the applicant but only to advise the insurance company whether it was being asked to insure one who was a poor risk. If the defendant physician breached any duty it was a duty owed to his employer, American Guardian Life Assurance Company. He owed no similar duty to the applicant. The order of the trial court sustaining the defendant's preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer and entering judgment for the defendant physician is affirmed. [1] American paid the full amount of the policy ($200,000.00) for which Ervin had applied.