A car ran a red light and hit my car. The police that responded to the scene told me that the person driving had just come from a dentist’s office. The policeman told me the driver was administered laughing gas for a tooth extraction. The driver had no idea what happened in the accident. I know that a person can sue a bartender for over-serving a drunk involved in an accident. Does a doctor have a duty to non-patients in such situations? Can I sue the dentist for over-serving his patient laughing gas?
You have made an excellent analogy. The bartender with a heavy hand pouring alcohol (a Dram Shop claim) could be compared to the dentist administering anesthesia. But as with most law suits, the answer depends on the facts of the case. The answer takes a little explanation.
The general rule is that doctors do not owe a duty to non-patients. McNulty v New York, 100 NY2d 227, 762 NYS2d 12, 792 NE2d 162 (2003). (In McNulty, the plaintiff was a friend of the patient caring for the patient who contracted meningitis. The care-giver/friend contracted meningitis and sued the doctor for failure to warn the patient that she was contagious.) See also Candelario v Teperman, 15 AD3d 204, 789 NYS2d 133 (1st Dept 2005).
However the Court of Appeals made an exception to this rule in 1997. The key fact was the patient’s treatment caused the infection to the non-patient. Tenuto v Lederle Laboratories, Div. of American Cyanamid Co., 90 NY2d 606, 665 NYS2d 17 (1997). (Parent of an infant had a claim against the pediatrician for failing to warn the parent that contact with the infant could cause the parent to contract polio when the infant was given a polio vaccine.)
Duty to Warn Patient
This leads to your case. About 10 years ago, the Court of Appeals considered a case similar to yours. Davis v South Nassau Communities Hosp., 26 NY3d 563, 26 NYS3d 231, 46 NE3d 614 (2015). That Court ruled that a physician had a duty to warn a patient about the effects of any medication that might affect the patient’s ability to operate a vehicle. Thus, a driver can make a claim against a physician because the physician had a duty to other drivers on the road.
In your case, it will all depend upon what sort of warning, if any, the other driver received from the dentist. Just because someone is driving after receiving laughing gas, does not mean that the dentist did not warn his patient. The patient may have ignored those warnings.
By James Santner, Esq.
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