Czapinski v. St. Francis Hospital, Inc.

• Decision Date: 06 July 2000
• Docket Number: No. 98-2437.,98-2437.
• Citation: 613 N.W.2d 120,2000 WI 80,236 Wis.2d 316
• Parties: Susan CZAPINSKI and Gary Czapinski, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL, INC., American Continental Insurance Company and Wisconsin Patients Compensation Fund, Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

236 Wis.2d 316

2000 WI 80

613 N.W.2d 120

Susan CZAPINSKI and Gary Czapinski, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL, INC., American Continental Insurance Company and Wisconsin Patients Compensation Fund, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 98-2437.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Oral argument April 5, 2000.

Decided July 6, 2000.

For the plaintiffs-appellants there were briefs (in the court of appeals) by Ted M. Warshafsky, Edward E. Robinson and Warshafsky, Rotter, Tarnoff, Reinhardt & Bloch, S.C., Milwaukee, and oral argument by Gerald J. Bloch.

For the defendants-respondents there was a brief by John A. Nelson, Timothy W. Feeley and von Briesen, Purtell & Roper, S.C., Milwaukee, and oral argument by John A. Nelson.

An amicus curiae brief was filed by Mark L. Thomsen and Cannon & Dunphy, S.C., Brookfield, on behalf of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers.

¶ 1. N. PATRICK CROOKS, J

This case comes before the court on certification from District I of the court of appeals. Petitioners, Susan and Gary Czapinski, seek review of a circuit court decision that dismissed their medical malpractice claim on the grounds that they failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Petitioners had sought damages for the loss of their mother's society and companionship following her death during a routine hip replacement surgery. The circuit court held that under Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) (1995-96),¹ adult children lack standing to recover for the wrongful death of a parent caused by medical malpractice.

¶ 2. We affirm. First, we hold that the language of Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) makes applicable to medical malpractice death cases only the limit on damages, and does not incorporate the wrongful death classification of claimants entitled to bring such an action. The classification of claimants entitled to bring a wrongful death suit for medical malpractice is limited to those enumerated in Wis. Stat. § 655.007. Legislative history shows that adult children were not intended to be included within this classification. Second, we hold that § 893.55(4)(f) does not violate the equal protection clause of the Wisconsin Constitution.

I.

¶ 3. On October 19, 1995, seventy-eight-year-old Helen Czapinski was admitted to St. Francis Hospital to undergo routine hip replacement surgery. During the surgery, doctors had trouble intubating her,² and by late evening, after the surgery, she was having difficulty breathing. Her respiratory distress intensified throughout the night and measures were taken by hospital staff in an attempt to resolve the problem. The respiratory difficulty continued and an emergency tracheostomy was eventually performed; this too failed in solving the respiratory crisis.³ Helen Czapinski went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 8:29 a.m. on October 20, 1995. A post mortem examination showed that her esophagus had been lacerated, apparently allowing air to escape into her neck, a potential cause of the respiratory obstruction.⁴ ¶ 4. At the time of her death, Helen Czapinski was not survived by a spouse. As a result, her two adult children, Susan and Gary Czapinski, filed a medical malpractice claim under Wis. Stat. ch. 655 on November 12, 1997. They alleged that St. Francis Hospital, Inc., "acting through its employees, agents and others for whom it is responsible in respondeat superior," negligently caused their mother "to sustain injuries, severe pain and suffering, and ultimately to die." (R. at 1:5.) The Czapinskis sought damages for loss of their mother's society and companionship.

¶ 5. The defendant, St. Francis Hospital, along with American Continental Insurance Company, and Wisconsin Patients Compensation Fund (hereinafter, St. Francis) filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 802.06(3). St. Francis claimed that the Czapinskis failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted because Wis. Stat. ch. 655 precludes adult children from recovering for wrongful death resulting from medical malpractice.

¶ 6. The Czapinskis responded to this motion by claiming that Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) supersedes Wis. Stat. § 655.007 in terms of who may bring a cause of action in medical malpractice death cases, and it makes the classification of claimants entitled to bring wrongful death actions under Wis. Stat. § 895.04(4)⁵ applicable to claims for loss of society and companionship in medical malpractice actions. The Czapinskis argued that this classification would include adult children's claims for such loss.

¶ 7. The circuit court, the Honorable Louis J. Ceci presiding, granted St. Francis' motion and dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The circuit court held that adult children lack standing to recover for loss of society and companionship in the wrongful death of a parent caused by medical malpractice, because Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4) makes applicable to medical malpractice death cases only the limit on damages and does not incorporate the wrongful death classification of claimants entitled to bring such an action. The circuit court held that the classification of claimants entitled to bring claims for loss of society and companionship in wrongful death actions for medical malpractice are limited to those enumerated in Wis. Stat. § 655.007.

¶ 8. The Czapinskis appeal on two grounds.⁶ First, they claim that as of May 25, 1995, Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) incorporated adult children in the classification of claimants that may bring claims for loss of society and companionship in wrongful death actions in medical malpractice cases. In support of their claim, they point to the terminology of § 893.55(4)(f), which provides in part, "damages recoverable against health care providers and an employee of a health care provider . . .for wrongful death are subject to the limit under s. 895.04(4)." Wisconsin Stat. § 895.04(4), in turn, provides that in wrongful death actions, "[a]dditional damages not to exceed $150,000 for loss of society and companionship may be awarded to the spouse, children or parents of the deceased."⁷

¶ 9. Second, the Czapinskis argue that if Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) is construed to incorporate only the wrongful death limitation on damages, and not the classification of wrongful death claimants entitled to bring such actions, then the statute should be struck down as unconstitutional for violating the equal protection provision in art. I, § 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution.⁸ Under the current statute, physicians whose negligence causes death while acting in a medical capacity are treated differently than physicians whose negligence causes death while acting in a non-medical capacity. Furthermore, adult children would not have the same protections under the law as minor children. The Czapinskis claim that this inequitable treatment of both tortfeasors and tort victims violates equal protection.

¶ 10. St. Francis seeks an affirmation of the circuit court decision, which would prevent adult children from recovering for loss of society and companionship in medical malpractice cases. They argue that because Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) only incorporates the amount of damages a claimant may recover in medical malpractice suits, the classification of claimants entitled to bring such a claim under medical malpractice is limited to those enumerated in Wis. Stat. § 655.007. St. Francis argues that the Czapinskis could not meet the heavy burden to show that Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) is unconstitutional.

¶ 11. The court of appeals certified the appeal to this court for its determination. We are presented with two issues for review. First, does Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) expand the classification of claimants entitled to collect damages for loss of society and companionship in medical malpractice claims to include adult children who have lost a parent as a result of medical malpractice?⁹ Second, if § 893.55(4)(f) is construed not to incorporate adult children who have lost a parent in the classification of claimants that can collect damages resulting from loss of society and companionship in medical malpractice cases, does this statute then violate the equal protection provision of the Wisconsin Constitution?

II.

[1, 2]

¶ 12. We first address whether Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) includes adult children in the class of claimants that can recover for loss of society and companionship in a medical malpractice suit. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law that is reviewed de novo. Burks v. St. Joseph's Hosp., 227 Wis. 2d 811, 824, 596 N.W.2d 391 (1999)

. Likewise, the constitutionality of a statute is also a question of law that is reviewed de novo. Riccitelli v. Broekhuizen, 227 Wis. 2d 100, 119, 595 N.W.2d 392 (1999).

¶ 13. We conclude that Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(f) does not expand the classification of claimants entitled to recover for loss of society and companionship in the wrongful death of a parent caused by medical malpractice to include adult children. Statutory language along with legislative history and precedent lead us to hold that the intent of the legislature was to make applicable to medical malpractice death cases only the Wis. Stat. § 895.04(4) limit on damages,¹⁰ and not to incorporate the wrongful death classification of claimants entitled to bring such an action.

¶ 14. We begin by outlining the statutory provisions at issue in this case. Wisconsin Stat. ch. 655 provides medical patients a recourse for health care liability and establishes the Patients Compensation Fund. Chapter 655 was created in 1975 as a response to what the legislature perceived as a "social and economic crisis." State ex rel. Strykowski v. Wilkie, 81 Wis. 2d 491, 509, 261 N.W.2d 434 (1978). It "established an exclusive procedure for the prosecution of malpractice claims against a health care provider. . . ." Strykowski, 81 Wis. 2d at 499. The legislative rationale behind creating Chapter 655 was stated in Strykowski, 81 Wis. 2d at 508, in...