Estate of Blume. v. Marian Health Center, 03 CV 4117.
| Decision Date | 14 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 03 CV 4117.,03 CV 4117. |
| Citation | 503 F.Supp.2d 1103 |
| Parties | ESTATE OF Horst G. BLUME and Headache & Pain Control Center, P.C., Plaintiffs, v. MARIAN HEALTH CENTER and its successor-in-interest Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
Delbert D. Rowse, Rowse Law, PC, Sioux City, IA, George T. Qualley, Qualley & Associates, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiffs.
Maureen B. Heffernan, Berenstein Moore Berenstein Heffernan & Moeller, LLP, Sioux City, IA, Robert M. Slovek, Suzanne M. Shehan, Brian J. Alseth, Kutak Rock LLP, Omaha, NE, for Defendants.
Plaintiffs, Estate' of Horst G. Blume and Headache & Pain Control Center, P.C. ("Dr. Blume" or "Plaintiff'), filed a claim against Defendant, Marian Health Center and its successor-in-interest Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City ("Mercy" or "Defendant") on December 2, 2003, for anti-trust activities, violation of due process, breach of contract, reckless infliction of emotional distress, tortuous interference of an existing contract, and tortuous interference with existing and future patients. All claims, except the breach of contract, were dismissed on April 19, 2005. After extensive briefing and hearings, this Court granted summary judgment on the breach of contract claim in favor of plaintiffs. On November 6, 2006 to November 9, 2006, a four day jury trial was held to determine the extent of damages, if any, plaintiffs were entitled to. The jury returned with a verdict for Dr. Blume in the total amount of $146,025.00. Following this trial, Mercy renewed their motion for judgment as a matter of law or in the alternative for a new trial. (See Docket No. 217.) This Court held a hearing on January 11, 2007, and now denies defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law or in the alternative for a new trial.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) allows a party to renew a motion for a matter of law if "for any reason, the court does not grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law at the close of all evidence...." "A judgment as a matter of law is appropriate if `a party has been fully heard on an issue and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on that issue." Canny v. Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up Bottling Group, Inc., 439 F.3d 894, 899-900 (8th Cir.2006) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1)). In reviewing the motion, the court must "grant [the nonmoving party] all reasonable inferences and view the facts in the light most favorable to [the nonmoving party]. Id. at 900 (citing Webner v. Titan Distrib., Inc., 267 F.3d 828, 833 (8th Cir.2001)). The court must grant judgment as a matter of law "when the evidence is such that, without weighing the credibility of the witnesses, there is a complete absence of probative facts to support the verdict." Day v. Toman, 266 F.3d 831, 836 (8th Cir.2001) (citing Browning v. President Riverboat Casino-Missouri, Inc., 139 F.3d 631, 634 (8th Cir.1998)).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) states in pertinent part:
A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues (1) in an action in which there has been a trial by jury, for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States.
"[A]uthority to grant a new trial ... is confided almost entirely to the exercise of discretion on the part of the trial court." Allied Chemical Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980). The trial court is not, however, "`free to reweigh the evidence and set aside the jury verdict merely because the jury could have drawn different inferences or conclusions or because judges feel that other results are more reasonable." Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., 466 F.2d 179, 186 (8th Cir.1972) (quoting Tennant v. Peoria & Pekin Union Ry. Co., 321 U.S. 29, 35, 64 S.Ct. 409, 88 L.Ed. 520 (1944)). Ultimately, "[w]hen through judicial balancing the trial court determines that the first trial has resulted in a miscarriage of justice, the court may order a new trial, otherwise not." White v. Pence, 961 F.2d 776, 780 (8th Cir.1992).
If a party fails to make a sufficient showing of an essential element of a claim with respect to which that party has the burden of proof, then the opposing party is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); In re Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Implants Prods. Liab. Litig., 113 F.3d 1484, 1492 (8th Cir.1997). Ultimately, the necessary proof that the nonmoving party must produce is not precisely measurable, but the evidence must be "such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Allison v. Flexway Trucking, Inc., 28 F.3d 64, 66 (8th Cir.1994).
Mercy argues it is immune from civil money damages under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act ("HCQIA"). Docket No. 217-2 at 3-14. In the brief in support of the defendant's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law or in the alternative for a new trial, the defendant states as follows:
In three separate written opinions and for three separate reasons, the Court has rejected Mercy's claim for immunity under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (HCQIA). 42 U.S.C. Section 11101, et seq., which provides that a professional review body shall not be liable for damages under any law of any state with respect to a professional review action unless the opposing party overcomes a rebuttable presumption of compliance. It is contended that Mercy believes that the Court's previous opinions did not correctly consider HCQIA under the standard set forth in the plain text of the Act itself and supported by uniform case law. Docket 217 at 3.
Congress believed that effective peer review would be furthered "by granting limited immunity from suits for money damages to participants in professional review actions." Mathews v. Lancaster Gen. Hosp., 87 F.3d 624, 632 (3rd Cir.1996) (quoting H.R.Rep. No. 903, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 2 (1986)).
Under the HCQIA, professional review bodies are granted immunity if certain procedures are followed. 42 U.S.C. § 11112(a). See Sugarbaker v. SSM Health Care d/b/a St. Marys Health Center, 190 F.3d 905, 912 (8th Cir.1999). This Court has earlier ruled that Mercy Hospital is not a professional review body and therefore not immune from suit under the HCQIA. See Docket No. 85, at 3-4. This Court stated "This Court knows of no legal precedent which would allow it to include a hospital under the word `person' in the immunity statutes and has not been provided any pertinent citation by the defendant which would persuade it to the contrary." Docket No. 85, at 4. This Court, is persuaded that it was mistaken in its earlier ruling in that it did not have appropriate precedents to consider. The Court now wishes to clarify its previous rulings.
(C) any person under a contract or other formal agreement with the body, and
(D) ally person who participates with or assists the body with respect to the action, shall not be liable in damages under any law of the United States or of any State with respect to the action. 42 U.S.C. § 11111.
Plaintiffs did not contest that the action was a professional review action. "Professional review body" is defined as "a health care entity ..." 42 U.S.C. § 11151(11). "Health care entity" is defined as "a hospital that is licensed to provide health care services by the State in which it is located." 42 U.S.C. § 11151(4)(A). Following this statute, a professional review body includes a hospital. Therefore, because Mercy is a hospital licensed to provide health care services by the State of Iowa, this Court clarifies it's earlier ruling and now finds the HCQIA applies to hospitals as well as to individual doctors who practice at hospitals.
Under the HCQIA, four separate and distinct steps are necessary for immunity to attach to the peer review hearings. Specifically, for there to be immunity under the HCQIA, the professional review action must be taken:
(1) in the reasonable belief that the action was in furtherance of quality health care;
(2) after a reasonable effort to obtain the facts of the matter;
(3) after adequate notice and hearing procedures are afforded to the physician involved or after such other procedures as are fair to the physician under the circumstances; and,
(4) in the reasonable belief that the action was warranted by the facts known after such reasonable effort to obtain facts and after meeting the requirement of paragraph (3). 42 U.S.C. § 11112(a).
Plaintiffs argue that Mercy is not entitled to immunity because it did not satisfy some of the objective standards of § 11112(a) set out above. It is important to remember that Mercy is presumed to have complied with the standards, and Dr. Blume bears the burden of rebutting the presumption by a preponderance of the evidence. 42 U.S.C. § 11112(a). "A professional review action shall be presumed to have met the preceding standards ... unless the presumption is rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence." Id. This Court will address each requirement for immunity.
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