Negligence : Medical Malpractice – ‘Employee’

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Where plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice action against a hospital after a woman died from colon cancer allegedly after her doctor overlooked a soft mass in her abdomen, the issue of whether the doctor was an employee of the hospital under the statute should be determined by reference to the common law principles of agency, and the trial court erred in finding that Section 538.210.2(3) barred the claim because the doctor did not meet the statutory definition of “physician employee,” and the grant of summary judgment to the defendant is reversed and remanded for the court to apply the definition of “employee.”

Judgment is reversed and remanded.

Jefferson v. Missouri Baptist Medical Center (MLW No. 66815/Case No. ED99895 – 16 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Van Amburg, J.) Appealed from circuit court, St. Louis County, Reno, J. (Samuel Buffaloe for appellant) ( Robert Bartholomew Jr. for respondent).

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