An operator of a medical centre that assumes responsibility for maintaining patient records owes a duty of care to third parties (including sexual partners of patients) to maintain accurate and current records, where the foreseeability of harm from communicable diseases is established. Indemnity clauses in practitioner contracts that refer to liability arising from the doctor's rendering of medical services do not extend to the operator's own negligence in maintaining records. Where practitioner contracts allocate responsibility for liabilities to third parties, the contractual allocation does not displace statutory contribution but confines each party's liability to the consequences of its own defaults. The principle of circuity of action may defeat cross-claims for breach of contract between parties who are concurrent tortfeasors where the damages claimed are the same. Equitable contribution remains unavailable between concurrent tortfeasors.
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