1) Evan Smith experienced a heart attack in the emergency room of Baptist Memori
ID: 2498679 • Letter: 1
Question
1) Evan Smith experienced a heart attack in the emergency room of Baptist Memorial Hospital after being given a dose of penicillin for a sore throat. Smith sued the attending physician as well as the hospital. The hospital called itself a full-service hospital with emergency room facilities. Baptist Memorial did not consider the doctors to be its agents. For tax and accounting purpose the doctors were not treated as employees of the hospital. Based on this information, discuss whether the doctors who treated patients in the emergency room were agents of the hospital.
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Explanation / Answer
Even though there exists no formal agency agreement, there certainly exists a legally binding-something that appears as an agency relationship- regular visits by the physician,telephone calls from the hospital whenever any emergency arises,the physicians duty-bound follow-ups, accurate and date-wise recording of patient informations, his compensation vouchers and checks---all these definitely suggest that the physician is acting for and on behalf,and under the banner of this hospital. Both the hospital and the physician prosper on each other's name and company - so the hospital can be held liable and answerable for the acts of the attending physician
Hence the existence of an agency is presumed, and the principal ie. the hospital is bound by the acts of the agent performed on the principal's behalf. This is called agency by Estoppel or presumption of agency.
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