Maryland Hospital ALSO Liable With Independent Contractor Doc

The Court of Appeals of Maryland has reinstated a $6.1 million jury trial verdict in a medical malpractice suit holding both Prince George’s Hospital Center of Dimensions Health Corporation (the “Hospital”) and orthopedic surgeon Montague Blundon, M.D. liable.

This is the third time the Court of Appeals of Maryland has held that a hospital can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of physicians in its emergency room based on apparent agency. The existence of an apparent agency relationship, according to the court opinion, “depends in part on the perspective of a reasonable third party.”

There are three elements to the concept of apparent agency:

1. “Whether the apparent principal created, or acquiesced in, the appearance that an agency relationship existed.
2. Whether the plaintiff believed that an agency relationship existed and relied on that belief in seeking the services of the apparent agent.
3. Whether the plaintiff’s belief and reliance were reasonable.”

In the current case, Dr. Blundon was an independent contractor working at the Hospital when a patient was admitted to the emergency facility for injuries sustained after a motor vehicle accident. According to court documents, the patient “suffered further injuries when the surgeon who treated him there failed to exercise the standard of care expected of trauma surgeons.”

After a jury trial, the jury found that the surgeon was “negligent and directly liable.” It also found that “the surgeon was an agent of the Hospital, and that the Hospital was vicariously liable for that negligence.”

The Hospital moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict which was later granted. The patient appealed the judgment, but the Court of Special Appeals upheld the Circuit Court’s decision.

The patient appealed “on the issue of the nature of the evidence required to establish apparent agency.” The Hospital argued that there was “insufficient evidence” to show that the patient “believed that the surgeon was an agent of the Hospital when he was brought there by the ambulance.” The Hospital contended through the hearings that “the surgeon, like other staff at its trauma center, was an independent contractor rather than an employee of the Hospital and that the Hospital therefore was not responsible for his conduct.”

The Court of Appeals of Maryland disagreed. It looked at the three factors of apparent agency: representation, reliance, and reasonableness.

Maryland is not the only state where hospitals, based on the concept of apparent agency, have been held vicariously liable for the negligence of emergency room staff who are independent contractors. At least 20 other states have taken this position.