John Parker, age 35, was a self-employed consultant. When he moved io

Litteville in 2012, he purchased health coverage for himself and his family

from an MCO known as the Littleville Family Health Plan (the "Plan').

The Plan provides physician services to its enrollees through a

network of independent physicians in private practice. Each of those

participating physicians has entered into a written agreement with the

Plan. The standard agreement explicitly provides that the physicians

are not employees or agents of the Plan. The Plan does not provide

copies of its participating physician agreements to the patients who are

enrolled in the Plan.

However, at the time that he enrolled, the Plan did send Parker an

eight seven page brochure. On page 54, the brochure from the Plan contained

the following language: "We are very happy that you have chosen the

Plan to meet all of your health care needs. To obtain services under

the Plan, you will need to select a primary care physician (PCP) from

the enclosed list of the Plan's participating physicians. Please note

that these participating physicians are not employees or agents of the

Plan."

Parker did not know any doctors in the area, but he selected Dr.

Susan Green as his PCP because she was on the list provided to him

by the Plan. Dr. Green is a solo practitioner in private practice, and she

leases office space for her practice in a shopping center in the suburbs

of Littleville.

On July 15, 2013, Parker began experiencing dizzy spells. He called

Dr. Green's office and made an appointment to see her the next day.

On July 16, 2013, Dr. Green examined Parker in her office and made a

diagnosis of Swinehausen's syndrome. The standard treatment for that

medical condition is to prescribe one tablet of pentamite (10 milligrams)

once a day for three weeks. In her discussion with Parker, Dr. Green

explained the risks and benefits of pentamite as well as the alternative

forms of treatment, and Parker consented to take the pentamite as rec-

ommended by Dr. Green.

Dr. Green had a large supply of pentamite in her office, because

a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company had given her

several boxes as free samples. Rather than waste time and money by

sending Parker to a pharmacy, Dr. Green simply gave Parker one of the

sample boxes of pentamite.

The dosage information from the manufacturer stated that the

appropriate dose of pentamite was one tablet (10 milligrams), once a

day for three weeks. However, Dr. Green misread the dosage information

and instructed Parker, both orally and in writing, to take ten tablets of

pentamite (10 milligrams each) once a day for three weeks. Parker did

precisely as he was instructed by Dr. Green. At the end of the second

week of taking the pentamite as instructed, Parker had a sudden heart

attack and died.

As the personal representative of his estate, Parker's wife filed a

lawsuit in state court against Dr. Green and the Plan. According to the

allegations set forth in the complaint, Dr. Green was negligent in her

treatment of Parker by prescribing the wrong dosage of pentamite. In

addition, the complaint alleged that Dr. Green had failed to obtain his

informed consent to the pentamite treatment. Although Dr. Green had

informed Parker about some of the risks of taking pentamite, she failed

to inform him of the risk that she might prescribe the incorrect dosage

and thereby cause his death. According to the complaint, if Dr. Green

had properly advised Parker of the risk of prescribing an incorrect dos-

age of pentamite, he would not have consented to take that medication,

and he would still be alive today.

With regard to the Plan, the plaintiff alleged that it should be held

liable for Dr. Green's negligence. In addition, the plaintiff claims that the

Plan should be held liable for its own negligence in this case.

Please analyze each of the claims made by the plaintiff against Dr.

Green and the Plan. Be sure to discuss all of the elements of each claim

as well as your estimate of the likelihood of success on each claim. If

you think you need any additional facts, state the facts that you think

are needed, and explain how those facts would affect your analysis.