 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Carson v. Fine2/10/1994
sh. 2d at 679 (quoting Petrillo v. Syntex Labs., Inc., 148 Ill. App. 3d 581, 595, 499 N.E.2d 952 (1986), appeal denied, 113 Ill. 2d 584, cert. denied sub nom. Tobin v. Petrillo, 483 U.S. 1007, 97 L. Ed. 2d 738, 107 S. Ct. 3232 (1987)).
Petrillo v. Syntex Labs., Inc., supra, cited by this court in Loudon, describes the nature of a physician's fiduciary duty:
There is an implied promise, arising when the physician begins treating the patient, that the physician will refrain from engaging in conduct that is inconsistent with the "good faith" required of a fiduciary. The patient should, we believe, be able to trust that the physician will act in the best interests of the patient thereby protecting the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship.
Petrillo, 148 Ill. App. 3d at 594.
When a physician is treating a patient who is also a litigant, the physician's fiduciary duty to act in the patient's best medical interest includes a duty to avoid conduct that is adverse to the patient's legal interest. As one Pennsylvania court explains:
We are of the opinion that members of a profession, especially the medical profession, stand in a confidential or fiduciary capacity as to their patients. They owe their patients more than just medical care for which payment is exacted; there is a duty of total care; that includes and comprehends a duty to aid the patient in litigation, to render reports when necessary and to attend court when needed. That further includes a duty to refuse affirmative assistance to the patient's antagonist in litigation.
Alexander v. Knight, 197 Pa. Super. 79, 177 A.2d 142, 146 (1962) (per curiam).
Of course, when a patient becomes a party to a lawsuit and puts his or her physical condition in issue, the need to protect the physician-patient relationship must be balanced against the need to obtain information regarding the patient's alleged injuries. In this state, the Legislature has struck this balance by lifting the statutory shield against privileged communication to the extent necessary to obtain relevant information regarding the patient's condition. See RCW 5.60.060(4)(b). When the physician-patient privilege is waived, however, our obligation to protect the fiduciary nature of the relationship is not likewise abandoned. It is here that we must be most cautious and confine the treating physician's testimony to that which is pertinent to the patient's prognosis, diagnosis and course of treatment.
In Loudon, the unique nature of the physician-patient relationship and its intimate connection to treatment of a patient's condition led this court to place limitations on discovery techniques even after the statutory protection was waived. Similarly, in this case, our duty to preserve the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship requires us to carefully scrutinize the admissibility of adverse opinion evidence offered by a treating physician against his or her patient.
By participating in the defense's case, a treating physician necessarily betrays his or her patient's confidence. To the extent the treating physician's testimony is required to establish the patient's condition, the testimony is a necessary tradeoff between the physician's fiduciary duty to the patient and the duty to further the search for truth in the legal proceeding. But when the physician ceases to be a fact witness and becomes the defense's expert witness on standards of care, the balance shifts. The physician's testimony is no longer an integral component of the fact-finding process, and, instead, becomes part of the defense's litigation strategy.
In
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Washington Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|