Court Opinion

ID: 9644078
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:47:50.644937+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:08.439700
License: Public Domain

HOLSTEIN, Judge,
concurring in result.
I concur in result. The precise issue in this case is whether plaintiff’s petition is sufficient to state a cause of action. Here the petition does not allege that the physicians in this case communicated any privileged information. Because no privileged information was communicated, the petition is insufficient to state a cause of action for a breach of the fiduciary relationship by communicating information which was subject to the physician-patient privilege.
I cannot join in many of the statements made in the majority opinion to bolster its conclusion. Contrary to the majority opinion’s suggestion, few, if any, physicians view their roles as “first and foremost a fact witness” in the process of “the search for truth.” Most physicians see their primary role as one who treats and advises patients regarding their medical condition. Critical to that function is patient candor in advising with the physician. In order to promote candor by patients, most physicians faithfully adhere to the highest ethical rules of confidentiality, both before and after litigation has commenced. Nevertheless, I am willing to say that not every failure to live up to the highest aspirations of the medical profession translates into a cause of action against the physician.
The majority fails to acknowledge the many obvious dangers when a physician communicates ex parte with the litigation opponents of a patient. A physician who voluntarily has ex parte discussions about a patient’s condition with a defense lawyer is perceived as an advocate against the patient. Such communication puts the plaintiff/patient at a disadvantage because the patient is usually unable to discover precisely what his or her own physician said or knows about the defense. Ex parte communication benefits only the defense and not the patient, and actually promotes hiding expert opinions helpful to the de*676fense, contrary to the fundamental purpose of our pretrial discovery rules. Ex parte communication raises questions of whether the physician has a duty to timely disclose the details of such conversation to the patient so that the patient may adequately prepare for trial.1 There is a risk that the conversation will exceed the bounds of legitimate disclosure. Perhaps most importantly, ex parte communication undermines a patient’s trust in a physician and may impede patient candor which is essential to sound medical treatment.
I also disagree with the assertion by the majority that requiring the patient or the patient’s lawyer be present when a physician is interviewed by a defense lawyer regarding the patient’s condition can be “used to manipulate or influence the testimony of the physician.” Presumably, an honest physician’s statement will be precisely the same, regardless of who is present during the interview. Nothing may be properly discussed in an ex parte interview that would not be the subject of questioning during a deposition at which all parties are present or represented. In sum, there is no sound reason for a physician to engage in ex parte discussions about a patient’s condition with litigation opponents of the patient. There are compelling reasons that such discussions should be avoided. However, as already noted, that does not mean there is a cause of action each time a physician communicates with a defense lawyer.
I fear the majority fails to emphasize the dangers inherent in ex parte discussions by physicians regarding their patient’s condition. I believe the Court should make it clear that the physician’s primary moral and legal obligation is to be a physician to a patient, and only incidentally does a physician have a duty to be an instrument in the “search for truth.” I concur in result.

. This issue is not raised by the pleadings in this case and, thus, need not be addressed here.