El Majzoub v. Appling,
No. 01-00-00842-CV (Tex. App. Aug. 30, 2002)

The wife of a deceased patient appealed a trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of an on-call physician. The Texas Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment in the physician's favor, holding that no physician-patient relationship existed because the on-call physician, who was telephoned by the emergency physician, took no affirmative action to treat the patient and did not make any medical decisions with respect to the patient. The appeals court held that the "on-call" status of a physician does not automatically impose a duty, nor is a duty imposed when an on-call physician consults with an ER physician.