A physician’s duty arises only when a physician-patient relationship has been expressly established or there is a special relationship such as when one physician is asked by another physician to provide a service to the patient, conduct laboratory tests, or review test results. Siwa v. Koch, 388 Ill. App., 3d 444, 447, 327, Ill.Dec. 787, 902 N.E.2d 1173 (2009); Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372, Ill. App. 3d 186, 188, 310 Ill.Dec. 231, 865 N.E.2d 555 (2007); Reynolds v. Decatur Memorial Hospital, 277 Ill. App. 3d 80, 85, 214 Ill.Dec. 44, 660 N.E.2d 235 (1996). In this case, our question is whether a special relationship existed between Dr. Krock and decedent that gave rise to a physician-patient relationship and imposed a professional duty of care upon Dr. Krock.
A physician's duty arises only when a physician-patient relationship has been expressly established or there is a special relationship such as when one physician is asked by another physician to provide a service to the patient, conduct laboratory tests, or review test results. Siwa v. Koch, 388 Ill.App.3d 444, 447, 327 Ill.Dec. 787, 902 N.E.2d 1173 (2009) ; Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372 Ill.App.3d 186, 188, 310 Ill.Dec. 231, 865 N.E.2d 555 (2007) ; Reynolds v. Decatur Memorial Hospital, 277 Ill.App.3d 80, 84, 214 Ill.Dec. 44, 660 N.E.2d 235 (1996). The matter at hand tests whether a special relationship existed between Dr. DeFranco and Michelle which gave rise to a physician-patient relationship and imposed a professional duty of care upon Dr. DeFranco.
"A physician's duty arises only when a physician-patient relationship has been expressly established or there is a special relationship, such as when one physician is asked by another physician to provide service to the patient, conduct laboratory test results, or review test results." Blagden v. McMillan, 2023 IL App (4th) 220238, ¶ 42 (citing Siwa v. Koch, 388 Ill.App.3d 444, 447 (2009); Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372 Ill.App.3d 186, 188 (2007); and Reynolds v. Decatur Memorial Hospital, 277 Ill.App.3d 80, 85 (1996)).
A physician's duty arises only when a physician-patient relationship has been expressly established or there is a special relationship such as when one physician is asked by another physician to provide a service to the patient, conduct laboratory tests, or review test results. Siwa v. Koch, 388 Ill.App.3d 444, 447 (2009); Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372 Ill.App.3d 186, 188 (2007); Reynolds v. Decatur Memorial Hospital, 277 Ill.App.3d 80, 85 (1996). In this case, our question is whether a special relationship existed between Dr. Krock and decedent that gave rise to a physician-patient relationship and imposed a professional duty of care upon Dr. Krock.
A physician-patient relationship may also exist even in the absence of any actual contact between the physician and the patient when the physician performs specific services for the benefit of the patient. Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372 Ill.App.3d 186, 189 (2007).
¶ 12 In Illinois, a physician's duty of care is limited to those situations where there is a direct physician-patient relationship or there is a special relationship sufficient to impose a duty on the physician. Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372 Ill. App. 3d 186, 188 (2007). A duty of care might result from a "special relationship" in this context when, for example, a physician is asked by another physician to provide a service to a patient, conduct laboratory tests, or review test results.
Additionally, a physician-patient relationship may exist even in the absence of any meetings between the physician and the patient, where the physician performs services for the patient. Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 372 Ill. App. 3d 186, 189 (2007). In Reynolds v. Decatur Memorial Hospital, 277 Ill. App. 3d 80 (1996), the plaintiff, a minor, was admitted to the hospital and examined by a pediatrician.
Mackey, 35 N.E.3d at 640. In making that determination, the court examined four Illinois cases on the physician-patient special relationship—Weiss v. Rush N. Shore Med. Ctr., 865 N.E.2d 555 (Ill. App. Ct. 2007); Lenahan v. Univ. of Chi., 808 N.E.2d 1078 (Ill. App. Ct. 2004); Bovara v. St. Francis Hosp., 700 N.E.2d 143 (Ill. App. Ct. 1998); and Reynolds, 660 N.E.2d at 235. The court noted that Lenahan and Bovara stand for the proposition that "a special relationship establishing a physician-patient relationship exists where [...] the consulting physician is assigned the task of consulting as part of established procedures, protocols or contractual obligation with the hospital, is compensated for those consulting services, orders tests or reviews test results, gives specific medical advice regarding contemporaneous patient care, and makes decisions regarding the patient's current medical care."
See Mackey v. Sarroca, 35 N.E.3d 631, 638 (Ill. App. 2015); see also Weiss v. Rush North Shore Medical Center, 865 N.E.2d 555, 557 (Ill. App. 2007) (acknowledging that a special relationship may exist even in the absence of any meetings between the physician and patient); Slanger v. Advanced Urgent Care, Ltd., 2022 WL 18000076, at *3 (Ill. App. 2022) (“A physician-patient relationship may also exist even in the absence of any actual contact between the physician and the patient when the physician performs specific services for the benefit of the patient.”); Bovara v. St. Francis Hosp., 700 N.E.2d 143 (Ill. App. 1998)
(“In Illinois, a physician's duty arises only when a physician-patient relationship has been expressly established or when a special relationship exists, such as when one physician is asked by another physician to provide a service to a patient, conduct laboratory tests, or review test results.”) (citing Siwa v. Koch, 388 Ill.App.3d 444, 327 Ill.Dec. 787, 902 N.E.2d 1173, 1176 (2009), and Weiss v. Rush N. Shore Med. Ctr., 372 Ill.App.3d 186, 310 Ill.Dec. 231, 865 N.E.2d 555, 557 (2007)).