Brocail v. Anderson

132 S.W.3d 552, 2004 WL 438672
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 6, 2004
Docket14-03-00239-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 132 S.W.3d 552 (Brocail v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brocail v. Anderson, 132 S.W.3d 552, 2004 WL 438672 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

WANDA McKEE FOWLER, Justice.

In this appeal we must consider if a Michigan doctor, by agreeing to prescribe post-operative physical therapy through a Texas health care provider, had sufficient contacts with Texas to be subject to personal jurisdiction in the courts of this State. Douglas K. Brocail, formerly a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, sued appel-lees Kyle Anderson, M.D., Henry Ford Health System, and the Center for Athletic Medicine, 1 all medical, care providers for the Detroit Tigers, alleging that he sustained physical injury resulting from their medical negligence, gross negligence, and fraud in failing to discover or treat a torn *555 ligament in his elbow and in failing to inform him of the full extent of his injury. The trial court granted appellees’ special appearance and dismissed the claims against them. On appeal, Brocail argues that appellees’ contacts with Texas were sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction over them because Anderson, a doctor employed by the Henry Ford Health System and the Center for Athletic Medicine, prescribed, approved, and monitored his post-surgery physical therapy in Texas for approximately three months. Finding that the physical therapy Anderson prescribed was follow-up physical therapy for elbow surgery — and that the follow-up care was done in Texas at Brocail’s request and without any monetary benefit to Anderson — we affirm.

Factual BACKGROUND

Brocail was a professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, a major league baseball team. The Tigers used the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), a Michigan-based health care provider and regional medical center, to provide medical care for their players. In 2000, when Bro-cail injured his pitching elbow during baseball season, the Tigers referred him to Anderson, an employee of HFHS and a team doctor for the Tigers. Anderson practiced orthopedic surgery at various HFHS locations in Michigan.

Anderson recommended arthroscopic surgery for the elbow. Before the surgery, Anderson discussed with Brocail his treatment plan, outlining both the surgical procedure and the contemplated rehabilitation of the elbow. On September 22, 2000, Anderson performed the surgery in Michigan, and after the surgery, he prescribed physical therapy for Brocail. However, baseball season was over for the Tigers, and Brocail decided to return to his home in Texas. At Brocail’s request, Anderson agreed to prescribe physical therapy through a provider in Texas.

On October 4, 2000, Anderson faxed a prescription for physical therapy for Bro-cail to HealthSouth, a health care provider in Sugar Land, Texas. 2 Because physical therapy requires a doctor’s approval, HealthSouth faxed a proposed “care plan” from Texas to Anderson for approval. Anderson reviewed the care plan and faxed his approval of the plan to Texas. Thereafter, Brocail underwent physical therapy at HealthSouth with a therapist named Wayne Brewer. Brewer prepared progress reports and faxed them from HealthSouth in Texas to Anderson in Michigan. On October 23, 2001, Anderson wrote a second prescription for additional physical therapy, including instructions to begin a “toss program” at eight to ten weeks after the surgery, and faxed it to HealthSouth. Additionally, on October 30, 2000, he faxed to HealthSouth a prescription for the application of a dynamic elbow splint. Approximately one month later, on November 28, 2000, Brewer faxed a proposed treatment plan for Brocail that included initiating “light tossing” in mid-December. Anderson reviewed the plan, approved it, and faxed it back the next day. In his affidavit, Brocail stated that he and Anderson discussed Brocail’s physical therapy by telephone, and Anderson also discussed Brocail’s treatment with the physical therapy staff in Texas, but Anderson testified he did not recall any such conversations.

*556 The therapy continued until early January 2001, when Broeail was discharged from treatment. On January 25, 2001, the Tigers sent a letter to HealthSouth to explain that they had traded Broeail to the Houston Astros. The letter directed that any medical bills after December 20, 2000, should be directed to the Astros rather than the Tigers.

On September 20, 2002, Broeail brought this lawsuit in Harris County, Texas, against appellees and other defendants, including the Detroit Tigers. He alleged medical negligence, gross negligence, and fraud. In response, Anderson and HFHS filed special appearances. 3 In support of his special appearance, Anderson submitted an affidavit in which he testified to the following: (1) he is licensed to practice medicine in Michigan, but not Texas; (2) he practices medicine exclusively in Michigan; (3) he has never practiced medicine in Texas; (4) he has never owned property or had bank accounts in Texas; (5) he has not advertised or attempted to solicit business in Texas; and (6) he is domiciled in Michigan. HFHS’s corporate witness submitted an affidavit in support of HFHS’s special appearance, making similar claims regarding its lack of contacts with Texas.

In preparing a response to the special appearance, Broeail conducted discovery on the jurisdictional issue, sending written discovery and deposing Anderson and HFHS’s corporate witness. After a hearing, the trial court sustained the special appearance and dismissed Brocail’s claims against appellees. Broeail requested findings of fact and conclusions of law, but the trial court refused to make them. This appeal followed.

Analysis

I. Burden of Proof

The plaintiff has the initial burden of pleading sufficient allegations to bring the nonresident defendant within the provisions of the Texas long-arm statute. See BMC Software Belgium, N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789, 793 (Tex.2002); Hotel Partners v. KPMG Peat Marwick, 847 S.W.2d 630, 633 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1993, writ denied). A defendant challenging a Texas court’s personal jurisdiction over it must negate all jurisdictional bases. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d at 793; Nat’l Indus. Sand Ass’n v. Gibson, 897 S.W.2d 769, 772 (Tex.1995).

II. Standards of Review

Whether a court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant is a question of law. Am. Type Culture Collection, Inc. v. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d 801, 805-06 (Tex. 2002); Marchand, 83 S.W.3d at 794. But in resolving this question of law, a trial court must frequently resolve questions of fact. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806; Marchand, 83 S.W.3d at 794. On appeal, the trial court’s determination to grant or deny a special appearance is subject to de novo review, but we may be called upon to review the trial court’s resolution of a factual dispute. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806.

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Bluebook (online)
132 S.W.3d 552, 2004 WL 438672, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brocail-v-anderson-texapp-2004.