Millard v. Corrado
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern Division
14 S.W.3d 42 (1999)
Dr. Corrado (defendant), the on-call surgeon at Audrain Medical Center (AMC), asked another physician without AMC surgical privileges to fill in during his shift without notifying anyone else at the hospital of his absence; when Millard was critically injured in a car accident, EMTs chose to transport her to AMC specifically because it was known to have a staffed emergency room and an on-call general surgeon capable of handling trauma. Corrado did not respond to repeated pages, and by the time he did respond and recommended transferring Millard elsewhere, she had already lost significant time and suffered extensive internal injuries; she sued Corrado for negligence, and the trial court granted him summary judgment for lack of a patient-physician relationship, prompting her appeal.
Whether a patient-physician relationship exists when the physician diagnoses or treats a patient, or contracts with the patient, the emergency room physician, or the hospital to provide medical services.