Opinion

John Collip, M.D. v. Vickie Ratts on behalf of Robert A.J. Ratts, and Little Creek Family Health Center, LLP

  • 49 N.E.3d 607
  • 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 780
  • 2015 WL 9589777
Court
Indiana Court of Appeals
Filed
Dec 31, 2015
Status
Published
Author
Baker
On the bench
Baker, Riley, Bailey
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 44.3%

“Consequently, we hold as a matter of law that a physician who enters into a [collaborative practice agreement] with a nurse practitioner has a duty of reasonable care to the nurse practitioner’s patients in fulfilling his or her obligations under the CPA.”

How later courts described this case

  • “Consequently, we hold as a matter of law that a physician who enters into a [collaborative practice agreement] with a nurse practitioner has a duty of reasonable care to the nurse practitioner’s patients in fulfilling his or her obligations under the CPA.”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

Dec 31 2015, 9:15 am

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE

John David Hoover Jerry Garau

Michael J. Blinn Garau Germano, P.C.

Hoover Hull Turner LLP Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

John Collip, M.D., December 31, 2015

Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

49A05-1501-CT-1

v. Appeal from the Marion Superior

Court

Vickie Ratts on behalf of Robert The Honorable Theodore M.

A.J. Ratts, deceased, and Little Sosin, Judge

Creek Family Health Center, Trial Court Cause No.

LLP, 49D02-1012-CT-55368

Appellees-Plaintiffs

Baker, Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 1 of 17

[1] Dr. John Collip had a contractual relationship with Dena Barger, who is a

nurse practitioner and owns her own medical practice. Pursuant to their

Collaborative Practice Agreement (CPA), Dr. Collip was to collaborate with

Barger and oversee her prescriptive authority. Specifically, he was to review at

least 5% of her charts on a weekly basis to evaluate her prescriptive practices.

On March 30, 2009, Robert Ratts, one of Barger’s patients, died as a partial

result of mixed drug intoxication.

[2] Dr. Collip brings this interlocutory appeal challenging the trial court’s order

granting partial summary judgment in favor of Vickie Ratts, Ratts’s mother, on

her medical malpractice claim. The trial court held as a matter of law that Dr.

Collip had a duty to Ratts even though he had never treated Ratts as a patient.

[3] The Indiana General Assembly has enacted a complex and detailed statutory

scheme that authorizes nurse practitioners to provide medical services. We

infer from the language of the statute that one of the purposes of this legislation

was to provide the public with greater access to affordable healthcare. The

legislature also sought to ensure the safety of the public by requiring that when

prescribing legend drugs, nurse practitioners must be overseen by a licensed

physician. We hold as a matter of law that physicians who undertake this

responsibility owe a duty to the nurse practitioner’s patients to fulfill their

contractual obligations with reasonable care. We affirm and remand.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 2 of 17

Facts 1

[4] Under Indiana law, a nurse practitioner cannot prescribe legend drugs2 without

a collaborative practice agreement with a licensed physician. Dr. Collip and

Barger entered into the CPA in 2006. Pursuant to the CPA, Barger practiced

under the direction and supervision of Dr. Collip; Barger paid Dr. Collip for his

oversight. Dr. Collip admitted that he knew that if he failed to do what was

required of him under the CPA, Barger’s patients could be placed in danger.

He knew that he was obligated to ensure that Barger was providing appropriate

care, including prescriptive care, to her patients. Although Dr. Collip had no

ownership interest in, or employment affiliation with Barger’s clinic, his name

appeared with Barger’s at the top of the clinic’s preprinted prescription forms

and on clinic stationery.

[5] The CPA required Dr. Collip to review at least 5% of Barger’s charts on a

weekly basis and to document Barger’s prescribing practices. Dr. Collip

admittedly never complied with these requirements. He did engage in a limited

review of Barger’s notes,3 and this review caused him to become concerned

about the amount of narcotics that Barger was prescribing to her patients. He

1

We held oral argument on December 3, 2015, in Indianapolis. We thank counsel for both sides for their

able written and oral presentations.

2

“Legend drugs” include “any human drug required by federal law or regulation to be dispensed only by a

prescription, including finished dosage forms and active ingredients subject to 21 U.S.C. 811 through 812.”

Ind. Code § 25-26-14-7.

3

As noted above, Dr. Collip was required to review at least 5% of Barger’s charts. According to counsel at

oral argument, he never reviewed a single one; instead, he reviewed a limited selection of her notes.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 3 of 17

suggested that she attend a narcotic-prescribing seminar and occasionally

commented on the combination or amounts of medications she was prescribing.

Dr. Collip did not follow up regarding the seminar. He knew that he held the

“keys to the drugstore” for Barger and that if he terminated the CPA, she would

no longer be permitted to prescribe drugs at all. Appellant’s App. p. 153. Dr.

Collip did not take any steps to terminate the CPA.

[6] In addition to the CPA with Barger, Dr. Collip had collaborative practice

agreements with eleven to twelve other nurse practitioners. He was also

working ninety hours per week as a family practice physician.

[7] Ratts, a patient of Barger, was a high-risk patient with a history of depression,

suicide attempts, and polysubstance abuse. From January through March

2009, Barger prescribed multiple medications for Ratts, including Lortab (a

combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen), methadone, Wellbutrin,

lithium, and Xanax. Ratts died on March 30, 2009, and an autopsy revealed

that the cause of his death was acute bronchopneumonia complicating mixed

drug interaction. Dr. Collip never treated Ratts, never saw Ratts in

consultation or in any other circumstances, and never received or reviewed any

of Ratts’s medical records before this litigation.

[8] On October 24, 2013, Vickie Ratts (Mother) filed an amended complaint

against Dr. Collip, Barger, and Barger’s clinic. On September 11, 2014, Mother

filed a motion for partial summary judgment against Dr. Collip; the motion

argued solely that Dr. Collip owed a duty to Ratts as a matter of law. Dr.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 4 of 17

Collip filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, arguing that, as a matter of

law, he did not owe a duty to Ratts. Following briefing and oral argument, the

trial court issued an order on December 9, 2014, summarily granting Mother’s

summary judgment motion and denying Dr. Collip’s cross-motion. The trial

court found that its decision was a case of first impression and sua sponte

certified the order for interlocutory appeal. Dr. Collip now appeals.

Discussion and Decision

I. Standard of Review

[9] Our standard of review on summary judgment is well established:

We review summary judgment de novo, applying the same

standard as the trial court: “Drawing all reasonable inferences in

favor of . . . the non-moving parties, summary judgment is

appropriate ‘if the designated evidentiary matter shows that there

is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving

party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’” Williams v.

Tharp, 914 N.E.2d 756, 761 (Ind. 2009) (quoting T.R. 56(C)). “A

fact is ‘material’ if its resolution would affect the outcome of the

case, and an issue is ‘genuine’ if a trier of fact is required to

resolve the parties’ differing accounts of the truth, or if the

undisputed material facts support conflicting reasonable

inferences.” Id. (internal citations omitted).

The initial burden is on the summary-judgment movant to

“demonstrate [ ] the absence of any genuine issue of fact as to a

determinative issue,” at which point the burden shifts to the

nonmovant to “come forward with contrary evidence” showing

an issue for the trier of fact. Id. at 761–62 (internal quotation

marks and substitution omitted). And “[a]lthough the non-

moving party has the burden on appeal of persuading us that the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 5 of 17

grant of summary judgment was erroneous, we carefully assess

the trial court's decision to ensure that he was not improperly

denied his day in court.” McSwane v. Bloomington Hosp. &

Healthcare Sys., 916 N.E.2d 906, 909–10 (Ind. 2009) (internal

quotation marks omitted).

Hughley v. State, 15 N.E.3d 1000, 1003 (Ind. 2014). Although summary

judgment is rarely appropriate in negligence cases, the existence of duty is

generally a matter of law for the courts to decide. E.g., King v. Ne. Sec., Inc., 790

N.E.2d 474, 484 (Ind. 2003).

II. Duty

[10] Initially, we note that Dr. Collip spends much of his brief arguing that, in a

medical malpractice context, if the defendant does not have a physician-patient

relationship with the plaintiff, then the defendant owed no duty to the plaintiff

as a matter of law. Dr. Collip maintains that the CPA did not create a

physician-patient relationship between himself and Ratts. This argument is a

red herring, as Mother concedes that there is no physician-patient relationship.

As such, Harper v. Hippensteel, the case primarily relied upon by Dr. Collip, is

inapposite because the Harper Court determined that the mere existence of a

CPA does not create a physician-patient relationship. 994 N.E.2d 1233, 1242

(Ind. Ct. App. 2013). As Mother does not make that argument, Harper does not

apply to this case. Mother insists that this case sounds in tort and must be

analyzed under general tort principles, and we agree.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 6 of 17

A. Webb v. Jarvis factors

[11] The seminal case in determining the existence of a duty is our Supreme Court’s

decision in Webb v. Jarvis, 575 N.E.2d 992 (Ind. 1991). In Webb, as in the case

before us, our Supreme Court considered whether a physician had a legal duty

to a third party to whom he had not provided any medical treatment. Id. at 994

(person shot by patient for whom doctor had prescribed anabolic steroids

brought suit against the physician). In analyzing whether a legal duty existed,

our Supreme Court articulated three factors to consider: (1) the relationship

between the parties; (2) the reasonable foreseeability of harm to the person who

was injured; and (3) public policy concerns. Id. at 995.4 The three factors are

to be balanced together rather than considered to be three distinct and necessary

elements. Cram v. Howell, 680 N.E.2d 1096, 1097 (Ind. 1997).

1. The relationship between the parties

[12] Here, the only link between Dr. Collip and Ratts was the CPA between Dr.

Collip and Barger. It is well established, however, that “Indiana Law does not

preclude liability in tort for personal injury merely because privity is absent.”

Harper v. Guarantee Auto Stores, 533 N.E.2d 1258, 1262 (Ind. Ct. App. 1989).

Where privity is absent, “one must have actual knowledge that a third person

4

Dr. Collip argues that Webb does not apply because this analysis is limited to “those instances where the

element of duty has not already been declared or otherwise articulated.” N. Ind. Pub. Serv. Co. v. Sharp, 790

N.E.2d 462, 465 (Ind. 2003). Dr. Collip returns to his argument that it is well settled that a physician-patient

relationship is a prerequisite to a duty in a medical malpractice case. Inasmuch as Webb itself involved a

medical malpractice claim by a third party against a doctor with whom he did not have a physician-patient

relationship, we do not find Dr. Collip’s argument persuasive.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 7 of 17

might reasonably be affected in order to impose a duty.” Webb, 575 N.E.2d at

996. Furthermore, “we have recognized that a duty may be owed to a

beneficiary of the consensual relationship, akin to that of a third party

beneficiary of a contract, where the professional has actual knowledge that the

services being provided are, in part, for the benefit of such third persons.” Id.

[13] In this case, a physician voluntarily entered into a contract with a nurse

practitioner, pursuant to which he agreed to provide oversight of her

prescriptive practices. The gravamen of such a contract is the protection of the

nurse practitioner’s patients. And indeed, Dr. Collip has admitted that the

services he agreed to provide under the CPA were necessary for the protection

of Barger’s patients. Appellant’s App. p. 153. In other words, he had actual

knowledge that his services were being provided for the benefit of those third

parties and that those third parties might reasonably be affected by the manner

in which he performed his services. Notwithstanding the lack of privity,

therefore, we find that this factor weighs in favor of the existence of a duty.

2. The reasonable foreseeability of harm

to the person injured

[14] In analyzing the foreseeability component of our duty analysis, “we focus on

whether the person actually harmed was a foreseeable victim and whether the

type of harm actually inflicted was reasonably foreseeable.” Webb, 575 N.E.2d

at 996. In other words, we impose a duty only where a reasonably foreseeable

victim is injured by a reasonably foreseeable harm. Id. at 997.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 8 of 17

[15] A nurse practitioner, while a highly qualified medical professional, is not a

physician. Barger did not go to medical school or participate in a residency

program. As such, our legislature has determined that nurse practitioners may

prescribe legend drugs only when under the supervision of a physician. One of

the apparent reasons for this policy, which we infer from the language of the

relevant statutes, was to ensure the safety of the patients of nurse practitioners.

If the supervising physician fails to adequately perform his or her oversight

duties, it is eminently foreseeable that the nurse practitioner’s patients could

suffer harm.

[16] Indeed, in this case, Dr. Collip admitted that his failure to adequately supervise

Barger, including his failure to review her charts as required by the CPA, could

result in harm befalling her patients. Appellant’s App. p. 45. Ratts, as one of

her patients, was a reasonably foreseeable victim of Dr. Collip’s alleged

negligence. And the harm that befell Ratts—death as a partial result of mixed

drug of intoxication—is precisely the type of harm one would expect to occur if

Dr. Collip had negligently performed his obligations under the CPA.

Consequently, we find that this factor weighs in favor of a duty.

3. Public policy

[17] As observed by the Webb Court, “‘Duty is not sacrosanct in itself, but is only an

expression of the sum total of those considerations of policy which lead the law

to say that the plaintiff is entitled to protection.’” 575 N.E.2d at 997 (quoting

Prosser & Keeton on Torts § 53 (5th ed. 1984)).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 9 of 17

[18] As with any piece of legislation, there are multiple policy reasons that our

General Assembly has decided to enact the set of laws at issue in this case. To

provide the public with greater access to affordable healthcare, the legislature

has authorized nurse practitioners5 to provide medical services to their patients.

Ind. Code ch. 25-23-1; 848 Ind. Admin. Code 4-2-1. But as noted above, as

nurse practitioners are not physicians, the legislature has determined that

physician oversight is required. More specifically, the General Assembly has

required that if a nurse practitioner seeks to prescribe legend drugs, he or she

must fulfill a number of conditions. We infer from the language of the relevant

statutes that one of the purposes behind these conditions is to ensure the safety

of the patients of nurse practitioners. 848 I.A.C. 5-1-1. Among those

conditions is a requirement that the nurse practitioner:

[s]ubmit[] proof of collaboration with a licensed practitioner in

the form of a written practice agreement that sets forth the

manner in which the advanced practice nurse and licensed

practitioner will cooperate, coordinate, and consult with each

other in the provision of health care to patients. Practice

agreements shall be in writing and shall also set forth provisions

for the type of collaboration between the advanced practice nurse

and the licensed practitioner and the reasonable and timely

review by the licensed practitioner of the prescribing practices of

5

“Nurse practitioners” is part of a broader category defined as “advanced practice nurses.” Ind. Code § 25-

23-1-1(b). We limit our discussion to nurse practitioners here because that is the only category of advanced

practice nurses at issue in this case, but our analysis applies equally to the other types of advanced practice

nurses enumerated in the statutory definition.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 10 of 17

the advanced practice nurse. Specifically, the written practice

agreement shall contain at least the following information:

(A) Complete names, home and business addresses, zip codes,

and telephone numbers of the licensed practitioner and the

advanced practice nurse.

(B) A list of all other offices or locations besides those listed in

clause (A) where the licensed practitioner authorized the

advanced practice nurse to prescribe.

(C) All specialty or board certifications of the licensed

practitioner and the advanced practice nurse.

(D) The specific manner of collaboration between the licensed

practitioner and the advanced practice nurse, including

how the licensed practitioner and the advanced practice

nurse will:

(i) work together;

(ii) share practice trends and responsibilities;

(iii) maintain geographic proximity; and

(iv) provide coverage during absence, incapacity,

infirmity, or emergency by the licensed practitioner.

(E) A description of what limitation, if any, the licensed

practitioner has placed on the advanced practice nurse’s

prescriptive authority.

(F) A description of the time and manner of the licensed

practitioner’s review of the advanced practice nurse’s

prescribing practices. The description shall include

provisions that the advanced practice nurse must submit

documentation of the advanced practice nurse’s

prescribing practices to the licensed practitioner within

seven (7) days. Documentation of prescribing practices

shall include, but not be limited to, at least a five percent

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 11 of 17

(5%) random sampling of the charts and medications

prescribed for patients.

(G) A list of all other written practice agreements of the

licensed practitioner and the advanced practice nurse.

(H) The duration of the written practice agreement between

the licensed practitioner and the advanced practice nurse.

848 I.A.C. 5-1-1(a)(7).

[19] It is evident that the General Assembly has carefully compiled a detailed list of

requirements that a collaborative practice agreement must fulfill. It is likewise

evident that one of the reasons that our legislature requires nurse practitioners

to comply with such rigorous standards is to ensure the safety of patients for

whom they will be prescribing legend drugs. In other words, the General

Assembly has created statutory mechanisms to ensure that those drugs are

provided safely and responsibly, under the oversight of a licensed physician. To

put it more plainly, the primary public policy underlying the requirement of

collaborative practice agreements is to protect and ensure the safety of the

public.

[20] Dr. Collip argues that doctors who enter into a CPA do not owe a duty to the

patients of the nurse practitioner. To adopt this position would be to

incentivize physicians to put their proverbial blinders on. Not only would they

have no incentive to oversee the nurse practitioner’s work in a responsible

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 12 of 17

manner, they would have an incentive not to do so.6 For if they could say, as

Dr. Collip argues so strenuously and repeatedly herein, that they did not see the

chart of a particular patient who is harmed as a result of alleged malpractice,

then they would bear no responsibility whatsoever for the harm befalling that

patient. They would feel free to adopt Dr. Collip’s approach, which involved

entering into eleven to twelve CPAs while also maintaining a 90-hour-per-week

medical practice. This result is clearly not what the General Assembly intended

when it enacted this legislation.

[21] We can only assume that the legislature did not intend for physicians

participating in CPAs to be mere rubber stamps or for physicians to be able to

perform their contractual obligations carelessly—or to ignore them altogether—

with no consequences. Instead, the General Assembly enacted a statutory

scheme ensuring that physicians will provide meaningful oversight, with an

apparent end goal of protecting the safety of the public. It is readily apparent

that public policy weighs strongly in favor of holding that physicians owe a duty

to the nurse practitioner’s patients pursuant to a CPA.

[22] According to Dr. Collip, if we hold that doctors have a duty under these

circumstances, it would “upset the long-settled relationship between physicians

and nurse-practitioners statewide, and could deter physicians from entering or

6

Dr. Collip argues that the incentive to comply with the contract would be the threat of the nurse practitioner

enforcing her contractual rights against the physician. It seems ludicrous to expect that a nurse practitioner

would bring a lawsuit demanding greater supervision by the physician; moreover, we question what damages

the nurse practitioner could possibly claim. We do not find this to be a persuasive argument.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 13 of 17

continuing such relationships. This outcome would frustrate legislative

objectives concerning access to primary health care through the use of

independent physician extenders such as nurse-practitioners.” Appellant’s Br.

p. 16-17. We disagree. To put it plainly, we are in no way holding that doctors

are the guarantors of the nurse practitioners pursuant to a CPA. We simply

hold that doctors have a duty to the patients of the nurse practitioners of

reasonable care in fulfilling the doctor’s obligations under the CPA. If a doctor

complied with his or her review and oversight obligations—for example, if the

physician actually reviews the percentage of charts required by the CPA—and

sees nothing troubling, and one of the patients is harmed by the negligence of

the nurse practitioner, the doctor has not breached the duty to that patient.

[23] All three of the Webb v. Jarvis factors weigh strongly in favor of the imposition

of a duty. Consequently, we hold as a matter of law that a physician who

enters into a CPA with a nurse practitioner has a duty of reasonable care to the

nurse practitioner’s patients in fulfilling his or her obligations under the CPA.

B. Section 324A

[24] We feel compelled to address the parties’ arguments with respect to section

324A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts even though it was not raised at the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 14 of 17

trial court.7 Section 324A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which Indiana

has adopted, reads as follows:

One who undertakes, gratuitously or for consideration, to render

services to another which he should recognize as necessary for

the protection of a third person or his things, is subject to liability

to the third person for physical harm resulting from his failure to

exercise reasonable care to protect his undertaking, if

(a) his failure to exercise reasonable care increases the

risk of such harm, or

(b) he has undertaken to perform a duty owed by the

other to the third person, or

(c) the harm is suffered because of reliance of the other

or the third person upon the undertaking.

See Light v. NIPSCO Indus., Inc., 747 N.E.2d 73, 75 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001)

(observing that “our decisions have equated Indiana law with the provisions of

Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 324A”). Section 324A “applies to any

undertaking to render services resulting in physical harm to third persons where

there is negligence in the manner of performance . . . .” Harper, 533 N.E.2d at

1262 n.3 (emphasis original).

7

Dr. Collip insists that Mother has waived this argument because she did not raise it before the trial court,

but it is well established that “an appellate court reviewing a challenged trial court summary-judgment ruling

is restricted neither to the claims and arguments presented at trial nor the rationale of the trial court’s ruling.”

Carson v. Palombo, 18 N.E.3d 1036, 1041 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 15 of 17

[25] In this case, Dr. Collip voluntarily undertook to enter into the CPA and

perform the duties required by that agreement. Specifically, he undertook a

duty to direct and supervise Barger in her practice, including her prescribing

practices. He did not undertake this duty gratuitously; he was paid for his

services. Dr. Collip acknowledged that the services he agreed to provide under

the CPA were necessary for the protection of Barger’s patients. Consequently,

“[t]here is no question that Dr. Collip’s failure to exercise reasonable care in

performing his duties under the CPA increased the risk of physical harm to

Barger’s patients.” Appellee’s Br. p. 10. Dr. Collip’s mere status as a physician

does not exempt him from section 324A, because while the Indiana Medical

Malpractice Act gives qualified healthcare providers certain privileges, it did not

make them immune from the application of Indiana’s common law.

[26] Dr. Collip highlights two recent cases from our Supreme Court that, in his

view, require us to rule in his favor. He directs our attention to Yost v. Wabash

College, in which our Supreme Court held that an actor’s liability does not

extend beyond the undertaking and that a defendant had not assumed a duty to

a third party with respect to the behavior of other actors where “the specific

undertaking did not extend to actual oversight and control over the behavior” of

the other actors. 3 N.E.3d 509, 521 (Ind. 2014); see also Smith v. Delta Tau Delta,

Inc., 9 N.E.3d 154 (Ind. 2014) (holding that because evidence did not establish a

duty on the part of the national fraternity to directly supervise and control the

actions of the local fraternity and its members, it did not have a duty to ensure

the safety of the freshman pledges).

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 16 of 17

[27] Yost and Smith require us to define the scope of the undertaking to determine

whether there was a duty. Here, the scope of a physician’s undertaking when

entering into a CPA is to comply with the terms of the contract to protect the

safety of the nurse practitioner’s patients. In other words, it is readily apparent

that Dr. Collip’s “specific undertaking” did, in fact, extend to the safety of

Barger’s patients. We again note that this holding does not render Dr. Collip

the guarantor of Barger’s medical practices; instead, it merely requires him to

fulfill his duty of reasonable care in complying with the CPA. Therefore,

whether we analyze the duty question under Webb v. Jarvis or under section

324A, the answer is the same—Dr. Collip had a duty to Ratts as a matter of

law. We express no opinion as to the remaining elements Mother must prove

to prevail on her complaint, as those must be considered by a factfinder.

[28] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed and remanded for further

proceedings.

Riley, J., and Bailey, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 49A05-1501-CT-1 | December 31, 2015 Page 17 of 17

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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