Wright v. Jeckle

16 P.3d 1268, 104 Wash. App. 478
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 25, 2001
DocketNo. 18963-5-III
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 16 P.3d 1268 (Wright v. Jeckle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wright v. Jeckle, 16 P.3d 1268, 104 Wash. App. 478 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Sweeney, J.

The dispositive issue in this case is whether the advertising, marketing, and sale of diet drugs can implicate the entrepreneurial aspects of medicine in a [480]*480way that accommodates a Consumer Protection Act cause of action or whether, instead, the claims here fall under the umbrella of chapter 7.70 RCW (Actions for Injuries Resulting From Health Care) and must therefore fit within one of the three statutorily prescribed causes of action—negligence, contract, or lack of informed consent. RCW 7.70.030. We conclude that Dr. Milan Jeckle’s diet drug sales implicate the entrepreneurial aspects of medicine and therefore reverse the trial court’s summary dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims.

FACTS

Dr. Milan Jeckle prescribed the diet drugs fenfluramine and phentermine (fen-phen) and/or dexfenfluramine (Redux) for Karen Wright, Rosa Lee Johnson, and Karla Seastrom (collectively Wright). Dr. Jeckle does business in Spokane as All Valley Medical.

Dr. Jeckle advertised the “Dr. Jeckle’s Fen-Phen Medical Weight Loss Program” in the Nickel Nik and Spokesman-Review. The advertisements solicited patients for the use of fen-phen. Dr. Jeckle advertised fen-phen as “safe.” The drugs were not approved for concomitant use by the Federal Drug Administration. He also set up a system of free drawings for fen-phen and distributed a newsletter. The newsletter included testimonials from fen-phen users and encouraged the use of fen-phen.

Dr. Jeckle required that his patients purchase fen-phen directly from his office. Patients were not allowed to purchase fen-phen from independent pharmacists. And Dr. Jeckle directly profited from the sale of fen-phen.

Wright filed a class action complaint alleging Dr. Jeckle had violated the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The second amended complaint alleges Dr. Jeckle violated the CPA and breached a fiduciary duty to Wright. Specifically, Wright claims Dr. Jeckle’s advertising, marketing, and sales of fen-phen were done as part of the entrepreneurial aspect of his practice. Wright asked for an order requiring [481]*481Dr. Jeckle to disgorge the money he received from the sale of fen-phen. Wright then moved for certification of a class of plaintiffs.

Dr. Jeckle resisted Wright’s motion for certification and moved to dismiss Wright’s complaint pursuant to CR 12(b)(6) (failure to state a claim). The trial court granted Dr. Jeckle’s motion to dismiss.

DISCUSSION

CR 12(b)(6) Standard of Review. We review dismissal of a claim under CR 12(b)(6) de novo. Reid v. Pierce County, 136 Wn.2d 195, 200-01, 961 P.2d 333 (1998); Cutler v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 124 Wn.2d 749, 755, 881 P.2d 216 (1994). Dismissal is appropriate only if the complaint alleges no facts that would justify recovery. Reid, 136 Wn.2d at 200-01. We accept the plaintiffs’ allegations and any reasonable inferences as true. Id. at 201. And for that reason CR 12(b)(6) motions should be granted sparingly and with care. Cutler, 124 Wn.2d at 755.

Cause of Action—Health Care. Chapter 7.70 RCW modified both the procedure and substance of causes of action based on health care. Branom v. State, 94 Wn. App. 964, 968-69, 974 P.2d 335, review denied, 138 Wn.2d 1023 (1999). The legislation sweeps broadly; it includes causes of action in contract and tort. Id. at 969. Chapter 7.70 RCW governs any action for damages based on an injury resulting from health care—exclusively. Id.

The phrase “health care” is not defined in chapter 7.70 RCW. Branom, 94 Wn. App. at 969. Washington courts have defined it as “ ‘the process in which [a physician is] utilizing the skills which he [or she] had been taught in examining, diagnosing, treating or caring for the plaintiff as his [or her] patient.’ ” Id. at 969-70 (quoting Estate of Sly v. Linville, 75 Wn. App. 431, 439, 878 P.2d 1241 (1994)) (first alteration in original).

Dr. Jeckle advertised, marketed, and sold fen-phen. Wright argues that his activity exclusively implicates the [482]*482entrepreneurial aspect of his medical practice. And therefore Dr. Jeckle may be sued under the CPA for his non-health care activities.

Entrepreneurial Aspect of Medicine. Whether professional conduct implicates entrepreneurial aspects of a profession is a question of fact. Eriks v. Denver, 118 Wn.2d 451, 465, 824 P.2d 1207 (1992) (citing Quimby v. Fine, 45 Wn. App. 175, 182, 724 P.2d 403 (1986)). We take the plaintiffs allegations as true for purposes of CR 12(b)(6). Reid, 136 Wn.2d at 201. The question is not whether Dr. Jeckle engaged in entrepreneurial activities. We assume that he did for purposes of this review. The question is whether a doctor may be sued for consumer protection violations when the suit is based on these entrepreneurial activities.

Wright relies primarily on three cases. Short v. Demopolis, 103 Wn.2d 52, 691 P.2d 163 (1984); Linville, 75 Wn. App. 431; Quimby, 45 Wn. App. 175.

In Demopolis, our Supreme Court held that “certain entrepreneurial aspects of the practice of law may fall within the ‘trade or commerce’ definition of the CPA.” Demopolis, 103 Wn.2d at 60. The court gave these examples: “how the price of legal services is determined, billed, and collected and the way a law firm obtains, retains, and dismisses clients.” Id. at 61. The court held these aspects are a legitimate concern of the public and, therefore, properly subject to the CPA. Id. Claims for malpractice and negligence in the practice of law are not subject to the CPA because they focus on the actual competence of the underlying legal service. Id. at 61-62; see also Eriks, 118 Wn.2d at 464.

In Quimby, the court held that the reasoning of Demopolis (a CPA action can apply to the entrepreneurial aspects of a lawyer) applied with equal force to the medical profession. Quimby, 45 Wn. App. at 180. Quimby was a claim of medical malpractice based on the failure of a physician to properly inform the plaintiff of the risks and [483]*483hazards associated with a sterilization procedure. The court held that the lack of informed consent claim (countenanced by RCW 7.70.050(l)(b)) “may be within the scope of the Consumer Protection Act, if it relates to the entrepreneurial aspects of the medical practice.” Quimby, 45 Wn. App. at 181.

Dr. Jeckle argues that Quimby

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