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Wilson v. Teng12/8/2000
The plaintiff, Stacia Wilson, brought a medical malpractice wrongful-death action against Athens-Limestone Hospital and Dr. Bibi L. Teng, a pediatrician employed by Athens-Limestone Hospital. The plaintiff complains that, after she brought her four-year-old daughter Starsha Wilson to the hospital for treatment for an infection, Dr. Teng, who regularly treated Starsha for sickle-cell anemia, wrongfully caused Starsha's death by causing or allowing her to be discharged without admission to the hospital and without proper care by Dr. Teng. The plaintiff claims that Starsha would not have died had Dr. Teng complied with the applicable standard of care and admitted Starsha to the hospital for treatment. Dr. Teng and Athens-Limestone moved for summary judgment. Finding that no physician-patient relationship existed between Dr. Teng and Starsha, the trial court granted a summary judgment in favor of Dr. Teng, but denied a summary judgment in favor of Athens-Limestone. The plaintiff appeals from the summary judgment in favor of Dr. Teng. We reverse that summary judgment.
On July 2, 1999, the trial court entered the following order:
"The above-styled matter came before the Court on a Motion for summary Judgment as filed by the Defendant, Dr. Bibi L. Teng. The allegations of the complaint in the case herein address the treatment rendered to the plaintiff's daughter in the emergency room of Athens-Limestone Hospital on the morning of May 19, 1994. The Defendant, Dr. Bibi L. Teng, is a pediatrician in private practice in Athens, Alabama, and was at the time of this event a salaried employee of the Defendant Hospital. She was not an emergency medicine physician. She did not work any shifts in the emergency department. Athens-Limestone Hospital had its emergency department staffed at all times with subcontractor emergency medicine specialists. The plaintiff's daughter herein, Starsha Wilson, had been a pediatric patient of Dr. Teng in the past. Dr. Teng had serviced the said Starsha Wilson and her disease, sickle cell anemia, both in her office and as her attending physician during prior hospitalizations.
"With regard to the allegations of this complaint alleging negligence by medical personnel, the child was initially seen at the Athens-Limestone Hospital emergency room by emergency medicine specialist, Dr. J.P. Tucker. Dr. Tucker went off shift at 7:00 a.m. and Dr. Dianna Osborn took over. Dr. Osborn is an emergency medicine physician. On the morning in question, Dr. Osborn made the exclusive treatment decisions for Starsha Wilson in the emergency room. Dr. Osborn made the decision to discharge Starsha Wilson. On the morning in question Dr. Teng, in passing through the emergency department, became aware that Ms. Wilson and Starsha were in the emergency department and visited with them for a short time.
"The threshold question in this case as to the liability of the said defendant herein is based upon whether or not there was a physician-patient relationship between the child and Dr. Teng on this date. This doctor's involvement with this child must be resolved on a question of fact. No similarly situated pediatric doctor in reviewing anything in regard to this case can speak to the facts of what happened that particular morning. This court has conducted a careful review of those facts in looking at all the evidence before it and particularly with regard to the affidavit and deposition of Dr. Bibi Teng, the deposition of Dr. Dianna Osborn and the deposition of the mother, Stacia Lynn Wilson. Both doctors in question clearly verify that the treating physician this morning for the child was Dr. Dianna Osborn. Dr. Teng testified that she never even went behind the curtain to specifica
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