Lection v. Dyll

65 S.W.3d 696 (2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P was taken by ambulance to the emergency room with symptoms of slurred speech, hemiparesis, severe headache, dizziness, and other neurological symptoms. Dr. Syed, the emergency room physician on duty, examined P, had an EKG and CT scan performed and then requested a nurse to page the neurologist on call. At about 7:00 p.m., D, who was the neurologist on call that day, telephoned the emergency room to speak with Syed. Syed gave D the results of Syed's examination and testing. Syed then asked D if anything further needed to be done. Dyll responded that 'no further treatment needed to be done for this patient at the time,' that 'it sounded like she had a hemiplegic migraine' and that 'nothing further needed to be done,' which included admission into the hospital. During this telephone conversation, a nurse told Syed that P 'was no longer in the room' and he so informed D. D said it was all right that the patient had gone home. Had P still been at the hospital, Syed would have discharged her based on what D said. D also told Syed to 'just have her come back to my office on Monday.' A factual dispute exists about whether P left the hospital during or after Syed's telephone conference with Dyll. According to the doctors, Lection left before being discharged and while the two doctors were speaking on the phone. Syed had told P and her husband that he wanted to hear from the neurologist before making a decision about discharge. P and her husband testified that Syed told P to go home over their objection and that Syed said P only had a 'hysterical migraine' or something to that effect. P argues that Syed must have said she had a 'hemiplegic migraine,' thus relating D's diagnosis to her and proving she did not leave the hospital until after Syed had concluded his telephone consultation with D. The next morning, P suffered a disabling stroke. D alleged no physician-patient relationship existed because P left the hospital and Ds telephone conference with Syed did not create any duty of care. P claimed that D breached the standard of care for an on-call doctor by making an inappropriate diagnosis, failing to obtain adequate information from Syed to make a proper diagnosis, improperly instructing Syed, and failing to admit P to the hospital for evaluation and treatment. Eventually, the court granted D's motion for summary judgment. P appealed.