Doe Corp.. v. HonorÉ
| Decision Date | 08 July 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 49A05–1007–MI–408.,49A05–1007–MI–408. |
| Citation | 950 N.E.2d 722 |
| Parties | DOE CORPORATION, an Anonymous Health Care Provider, Appellant–Petitioner,v.Lolita C. HONORÉ, Special Administratrix of the Estate of Andrea Honoré, Deceased, Appellee–Respondent. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
George M. Plews, Tonya J. Bond, Plews Shadley Racher & Braun, LLP, Indianapolis, IN, Lara D. Engelking, Engelking Law Group, LLC, Carmel, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.Jill M. Bracken–Emerson, Kathy A. Lee, Cline, Farrell, Christie, Lee & Caress, P.C., Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.Peter J. Rusthoven, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, Indianapolis, IN, for amici curiae Indiana Health Care Association, Hoosier Owners and Providers for the Elderly, and Indiana Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
Doe Corporation, an anonymous health care provider, brings this interlocutory appeal from the trial court's order granting a motion to dismiss Doe Corporation's motion for a preliminary determination of law (PDL) filed in Marion Superior Court (the trial court) regarding the validity of an opinion of a medical review panel (MRP) appointed in the medical malpractice action filed by Lolita Honoré, as special administratrix of the estate of Andrea Honoré (collectively the Estate). Doe Corporation raises the following restated issue for our review: Did the trial court err by dismissing Doe Corporation's motion for a PDL for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Ind. Trial Rules 12(B)(1) and (8) because its motion was filed after the MRP had issued its written opinion, and the amended complaint was pending in another state court?
We reverse and remand.
Andrea Honoré (Andrea) resided at Doe Corporation's facility in Hamilton County, Indiana, from December 23, 2002, until her death on April 3, 2004. The Estate filed a proposed complaint for damages with the Indiana Department of Insurance (DOI) alleging that Doe Corporation breached the reasonable standard of medical and nursing care while Andrea was in the care of the facility.
On June 14, 2007, the parties agreed to the selection of James A. Fels as the MRP chairman (MRP Chair). The MRP in this case was comprised of two physician members and one nurse member. Although Doe Corporation filed objections to the MRP Chair's method of selecting the striking panel of nurses, those objections are not the subject of this appeal. What is at issue is Doe Corporation's written request that the nurse member of the MRP be prohibited from rendering a decision on causation. In particular, counsel for Doe Corporation made the following request of the MRP Chair:
Finally, please advise on your position as to the law and how the panelists will be advised i.e. whether nurse panelists will be advised that they cannot render medical causation opinions which are reserved for physicians, i.e. I.C. 34–18–10–22(b)(4)(A) and (B), whether the conduct complained of was or was not a factor of the resultant damages and if so, whether the plaintiff suffered any disability and the extent and duration of the disability; and whether the Plaintiff suffered any permanent impairment and the percentage of the Impairment..... [Doe Corporation is] entitled to know the answer to this question before moving forward so that an informed decision can be made as to whether a preliminary determination of law on this issue is necessary. [Doe Corporation does] not intend to proceed forward with a panel opinion whereby nurses are allowed by the panel chairman to practice medicine and render “inadmissible” medical causation opinions outlined in I.C. 34–18–10–22(b)(4)(A) and (B) which are beyond their scope of training and expertise and contrary to the law, therefore, if this is your intention, then the [Doe Corporation] need[s] to know this at this stage of the process.
Appellant's Appendix at 49. On February 6, 2009, counsel for the Estate responded to the MRP Chair as follows:
I received [Doe Corporation's] letter requesting that you instruct the panel that nurses cannot render an opinion regarding causation. I disagree with [its] analysis. I do not believe that request is appropriate, and I do not under any circumstances waive my client's right to have the panel members express their opinions fully on all aspects of this claim. However, in an effort to expedite this already arduous panel process and get this case to a panel decision, it would be okay with me if the written opinion of the panel only includes causation opinions from the physicians, should they desire to opine on causation. Of course, all panel members should render their opinion on whether [Doe Corporation] failed to meet the standard of care.
Id. at 98 (emphasis supplied). On February 9, 2009, the MRP Chair sent a letter to counsel agreeing that “the physician panelists will be the only ones to render any causation opinion.” Id. at 105.
On June 25, 2009, the MRP issued its opinion which, in relevant part, follows:
[The physician members] find there is a material issue of fact, not requiring expert opinion, bearing on the liability for consideration by the court or jury. [The physician members] further find that the conduct complained of was not a factor in the resultant damage.
[The nurse member] finds the evidence supports the conclusion that [Doe Corporation] failed to comply with the appropriate standard of care as charged in the complaint. [The nurse member] further finds the conduct complained of was a factor of the resultant damages.
Id. at 106–08. In an affidavit dated September 9, 2009, the MRP Chair acknowledged the agreement of the parties that the written MRP opinion would contain only the causation opinions of the physician members, and further stated:
During the meeting [of the MRP, the nurse member] expressed a desire to sign an opinion regarding causation. Despite my earlier correspondence to counsel, I came to the legal conclusion that the Medical Malpractice Act did not grant the parties or the panel chair the right to dictate to the panel members the content of the written panel opinion. Accordingly, I permitted [the nurse member] to sign an opinion regarding causation.
Id. at 149–50. After the opinion was issued, counsel for Doe Corporation spoke with the physician members of the MRP and obtained affidavits from them, in which one physician stated that she did not understand what a material issue of fact was and believed that a nurse does not have the training and experience to opine on causation, and the other stated that he believed that the MRP Chair had not properly instructed him on the law and that he did not believe that there is a material issue of fact.
On July 20, 2009, Doe Corporation filed a motion for a PDL with the trial court asking it to remand the MRP panel opinion to the MRP Chair for the issuance of a new opinion. On July 27, 2009, the Estate timely filed its complaint for damages in Hamilton County. The trial court allowed the Estate to respond to Doe Corporation's motion by September 9, 2009, but entered an order on August 25, 2009, granting Doe Corporation's motion and remanding the panel opinion to the MRP Chair with instructions to use a new nurse striking panel for selection of the nurse member, to prohibit the nurse member from opining on the issue of causation, and providing the physician members with the opportunity to review and revise their opinions if necessary. On September 4, 2009, the trial court entered an order finding that its previous order granting Doe Corporation's motion had been issued in error as it was entered prior to the deadline for a response from the Estate. The Estate responded by filing a motion to dismiss Doe Corporation's motion for a PDL, alleging that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and the same action was pending in another state court or, in the alternative, requesting that the trial court deny Doe Corporation's motion. The trial court heard argument on the motions on February 9, 2010. On June 10, 2010, the trial court issued detailed findings of fact and conclusions thereon ultimately dismissing Doe Corporation's motion for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and that the same action was pending in another state court. Doe Corporation now appeals.
Doe Corporation contends that the trial court erred by dismissing its motion for a PDL based upon a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. “Subject matter jurisdiction is the power to hear and determine cases of the general class to which the proceedings then before the court belong.” Hubbard v. Columbia Women's Hosp. of Indianapolis, 807 N.E.2d 45, 50 (Ind.Ct.App.2004). We have previously stated as follows:
In ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the trial court may consider not only the complaint and motion but also any affidavits or evidence submitted in support. The trial court may weigh the evidence to resolve the jurisdictional issue. The standard of appellate review for Trial Rule 12(B)(1) motions to dismiss is dependent upon what occurred in the trial court, that is: (i) whether the trial court resolved disputed facts; and (ii) if the trial court resolved disputed facts, whether it conducted an evidentiary hearing or ruled on a “paper record.”
Wishard Mem'l Hosp. v. Kerr, 846 N.E.2d 1083, 1087 (Ind.Ct.App.2006) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Our Supreme Court has clarified that:
[i]f the facts before the trial court are not in dispute, then the question of subject matter jurisdiction is purely one of law. Under those circumstances no deference is afforded the trial court's conclusion because appellate courts independently, and without the slightest deference to trial court determination, evaluate those issues they deem to be questions of law. Thus, we review de novo a trial court's ruling on a motion to dismiss under Trial Rule 12(B)(1) where the facts before the trial court are undisputed. If the facts before ...
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