Jefferson ex rel. Jefferson v. Mo. Baptist Med. Ctr. (Summary)

VICARIOUS LIABILITY

Jefferson ex rel. Jefferson v. Mo. Baptist Med. Ctr., No. ED 99895 (Mo. Ct. App. Aug. 19, 2014)

A patient’s estate sued a radiologist and medical center, alleging that the radiologist negligently failed to note in his interpretation of the patient’s third abdominal CT scan that a soft mass was still present. Two years later, the soft mass was diagnosed as Stage IV inoperable colon cancer.

The medical center filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that it could not be held liable for the radiologist’s negligence because he was not a medical center employee. The trial court agreed, based on a definition of “physician employee” in Missouri’s tort reform statute. The appeals court ruled that the lower court erred in applying the statutory definition of “physician employee” and held that the term “employee” should be defined in accordance with common law principles of agency which focus on the employer’s right to control the work of the employee. The appeals court remanded the case to the lower court with instructions to apply the term “employee” in a manner consistent with its ruling.