The Court of Appeal says California law supports a physician who struggled with her decision to report her patient’s condition to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Overcoming a patient’s testimony that he thought his pain management physician was employed by the hospital, an appellate court said his signature on multiple admission forms explaining otherwise is sufficient to overturn a jury’s verdict on liability.

Hospitals and surgery centers operate with a number of individuals taking responsibility for a variety of tasks. A surgeon’s reliance on others, however, for the pre-surgery review of medications can expose a patient to catastrophic injury.

Though wrong-sided surgeries have been exhaustively addressed through institutionalized precautions, they still happen. In one case, a surgeon’s stated trust in the patient apparently set in motion an ill-fated course.