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VANCE v. T. R. C.12/2/1997
T. R. C., a minor, brought an action against Dr. Luther Vance, Jr. and his professional corporation for damages arising from his failure to report T. R. C.'s herpes as sexual abuse under OCGA § 19-7-5. T. R. C. subsequently became pregnant and bore a baby boy, who also filed suit against Vance to recover for his stigma of illegitimacy. The trial court granted Vance summary judgment on the baby's claims, but denied summary judgment on T. R. C.'s claims. All claims were subject to summary judgment.
Following an accident incapacitating her mother, T. R. C. and her siblings were placed with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson for foster care in 1985. When T. R. C. turned nine, Mr. Anderson began fondling her,
and when she turned twelve, he began having sexual intercourse with her. Open lesions appeared in her perineal area, and on September 14, 1993, Mrs. Anderson took T. R. C. (then age 13) to Vance for treatment.
Vance clinically diagnosed her ailment as genital herpes, a sexually-transmitted disease. Although the testimony conflicts as to what conversations occurred during this visit, it is undisputed Vance asked Mrs. Anderson whether T. R. C. was sexually active. Mrs. Anderson claims she responded she knew of no sexual activity. It is undisputed that Dr. Vance informed T. R. C. she had contracted the disease through sexual contact. Despite his insistence that he knew she was having sex, and despite his repeated inquiries as to when she had last had sex, T. R. C. adamantly denied any sexual experiences.
She claims that eventually she told the doctor she had had sex the previous March (just before her thirteenth birthday), but she did not disclose the identity nor age of the male. Vance prescribed medication to treat the herpes and had his office schedule a follow-up appointment for the next week. Mrs. Anderson, who does not remember whether the second appointment was ever made, did not bring T. R. C. back for any follow-up care, and Vance did not have his office call Mrs. Anderson to reschedule the missed appointment. The medication cured the lesions within a week.
Vance did not report the herpes to any public agency, nor did he report sexual abuse to any child welfare agencies. According to his testimony, he believed the herpes arose from consensual sexual activity with peers because his experience taught him that a certain percentage of the 13-year-old population engages in consensual sexual activity. Also, he testified that when he asked Mrs. Anderson about T. R. C.'s sexual activity, she responded T. R. C. had been escaping through her bedroom window at night. Mrs. Anderson denies she told this to Vance, but she did suspect T. R. C. of having sex with her peers prior to the visit to Vance. T. R. C. denies any sexual activity outside of Mr. Anderson.
Eight months after the visit to Vance, T. R. C. became pregnant by Mr. Anderson, resulting in the birth of Baby Boy C. He has been adopted by another family.
Case No. A97A1586
T. R. C. alleges three grounds for her claims of negligence against Vance: (1) he breached the statutory duty imposed on him in OCGA § 19-7-5 to report she was being sexually abused; (2) he breached a common law duty to report and prevent the sexual abuse; (3) he breached the duty imposed by OCGA § 31-12-2 to report her herpes to the health department. The injury alleged is that had Vance made
the required reports, sexual abuse would have ceased and the pregnancy would have been prevented.
1. OCGA § 19-7-5 requires a physician who has reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused to report the abuse to a child welfare agency. Although abuse includes inducing or coercing a mi
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