Opinion ID: 173320
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bender's Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings

Text: Bender filed a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings on the battery and fraud claims pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Bender argued that to the extent those claims alleged he had failed to disclose facts concerning his professional background, no physician in the country has a duty to disclose [such] facts. (R. Appellant's App. Vol. I at 24.) Willis opposed the motion. While agreeing a doctor has no affirmative duty to disclose such facts, she claimed a doctor cannot lie when directly asked for this information and then use that false information to secure a patient's consent. At a hearing on the Rule 12 motion, Bender amended his motion seeking only dismissal of the fraud claim as the allegations of misrepresentation were appropriately considered, if at all, under the informed consent doctrine. Although the district court agreed with Bender, stating Willis' claim appeared to be a `garden variety' medical malpractice claim with a component of a lack of informed consent, it nevertheless denied the motion due to the fact the lawsuit was in its early stages. (Vol. I at 416.) Several months later, Willis successfully moved to amend her complaint to eliminate the fraud claim.