A hospital is being threatened with a lawsuit by a patient's family. Here are the facts: the patient came to the emergency department complaining of severe pain the lower right side of their abdomen. The hospital contracts with a private physician practice to staff the emergency room. The doctors are not employees of the hospital but the average person would not know that is the case. The doctors have the hospital logo on their lab coats, they have hospital ID badges, and the hospital controls their work schedules, training, and general supervision. The patient is evaluated quickly by one of the physicians and it is correctly determined that they have acute appendicitis and need surgery. The doctor writes an order for pain medication to make the patient more comfortable. The doctor didn't bother to check dosing information on the drug because his shift was ending and he wanted to get home. He mistakenly ordered a dose 10X higher than indicated. A dose of that volume would be lethal. A nurse recognizes the error while in the patient's room and calls in another physician. They discuss the error in front of the family. The second physician orders the correct dosage. The patient's surgery goes smoothly and the patient recovers without any complications.

The family is threatening to sue the hospital because of the first physician's negligence related to the dosing error on the pain medication. There are two issues you are being asked to analyze.

2a-Does the hospital have any liability at all because the physician is not actually one of their employees?. Carefully apply the law as we learned to the facts and come to a decision. Defend your answer.

2b-No matter how you decided Issue 2a, would the family have a valid negligence claim? Apply the facts to all the requirements for negligence and reach a decision. Defend your answer.