Sloan v. Farmer

Stephen Farmer (plaintiff) was a patient of Dr. Matt Sloan (defendant). Sloan was treating Farmer for chronic pain. As a part of the physician-patient relationship and treatment, Sloan prescribed controlled substances. Sloan also required Farmer to sign a contract under which Farmer would be given random drug tests in order to ensure that Farmer was not using any unauthorized medications. Sloan then determined that Farmer’s condition required Farmer to receive long-term disability benefits and informed Farmer’s employer of this fact. In response, Farmer’s employer had a third party monitor Farmer. A few months later, Farmer failed one of the contractually prescribed drug tests. Sloan drafted a letter terminating the physician-patient relationship as a result of the failed test. One of Sloan’s employees then informed the third-party monitor of the situation instead of sending the letter directly to Farmer. Farmer lost his job and benefits. Following the disclosure, Farmer sued Sloan and Sloan’s practice for various privacy-related claims. Sloan moved to dismiss the claims on the grounds that they were, in reality, medical-malpractice claims that required an expert under a Texas statute. Because Farmer had not retained or disclosed an expert, Sloan argued, the claims should be dismissed. The trial court agreed as to all the claims except one. Sloan took an interlocutory appeal on the remaining claim, arguing that it should be dismissed for the same reasons.