Opinion ID: 1189746
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Count 6: Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Text: New Jersey has recognized that doctors owe a fiduciary duty to patients in making medical decisions, Perna v. Pirozzi, 92 N.J. 446, 464, 457 A.2d 431 (1983), and that nonprofit hospitals owe a fiduciary duty to the public with regard to staffing decisions. See, e.g. Greisman v. Newcomb Hosp., 40 N.J. 389, 402, 192 A.2d 817. Doe v. Bridgeton Hosp., 71 N.J. 478, 366 A.2d 641 (1976), also recognized that hospitals have to make their facilities available for abortions. Id. at 490, 366 A.2d 641. Both of these holdings are concerned with the capacity of hospitals to provide medical services. See also Grodjesk v. Jersey City Med. Ctr., 135 N.J.Super. 393, 414, 343 A.2d 489 (speaking of a hospital's duty to provide proper and adequate facilities for patient care.). No case cited by either party has ever extended a hospital's fiduciary duty to its billing practices. Plaintiffs concede that the issue is a case of first impression in New Jersey, Pl.'s Sur-Reply Br. at 15, but argue that the policy that may be distilled from the cited cases ought to impose a fiduciary duty here. Pl.'s Opp. Br. at 28. Defendants' reference to New Jersey Economic Development Authority v. Pavonia Restaurant, 319 N.J.Super. 435, 725 A.2d 1133, (App.Div.1998), for the proposition that debtors and creditors do not exist in a fiduciary relationship, is not squarely on point, given that there was no adversarial bargaining or equal availability of information in this case. Compare Id. at 446, 725 A.2d 1133. It is clear however, that in general New Jersey does not find fiduciary duty in the debtor-creditor context, and, given that the cases cited by both sides relate only to the provision of care and not the payment therefor, it is unlikely that the New Jersey courts would expand a hospital's fiduciary duty to its billing practices. In the absence of a fiduciary duty, no cause of action exists for its alleged breach, and Count 6 will therefore be dismissed.