The current practice of medicine involves various professional and non-professional participants who render medical services in addition to the attending physician. Some of these persons have special knowledge or skills with which the primary physician may not be conversant, and employing means which have never been implemented by the physician. Over the course of discovery in a complex medical malpractice case, it is expected that issues will arise as to the doctor’s vicarious liability for others involved in the patient’s care. Knowing where the distinctions are drawn will be helpful to the defense of your physician client.
At common law, a person injured by the negligence of another was permitted to seek redress only from the person whose actual negligence was the cause of the injury. This eroded over time with the law’s creation of vicarious liability for the acts of partner for partner, master for servant, principal for agent, and among joint venturers. Statutory changes ensued in the form of workers compensation and professional corporations, but in each case, the changes were in derogation of the common law and thus strictly construed.
