Estate of Witthoeft v. Kiskaddon

• Decision Date: 08 July 1999
• Citation: 733 A.2d 623,557 Pa. 340
• Parties: ESTATE OF Lynn S. WITTHOEFT v. James C. KISKADDON, Appeal of Henry G. Witthoeft.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

733 A.2d 623

557 Pa. 340

ESTATE OF Lynn S. WITTHOEFT v. James C. KISKADDON,

Appeal of Henry G. Witthoeft.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued December 9, 1997.

Decided July 8, 1999.

Mark David Frankel, York, for Estate of Lynn S. Witthoeft.

Craig A. Stone, Kathleen Doyle Yaninek, John F. Yaninek, Harrisburg, for James C. Kiskaddon.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO and NEWMAN, JJ.

OPINION

CAPPY, Justice.

We granted allocatur in order to address a significant and far-reaching issue of first impression. The issue before us is whether a physician may be held liable for injuries suffered by a third party in an automobile accident caused by the physician's patient. More specifically, will an ophthalmologist be held liable to a third party where the ophthalmologist failed to inform his patient or the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) of the patient's poor visual acuity, and subsequently, the patient injured the third party while driving her automobile? For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the order of the Superior Court.

A brief recitation of the relevant facts, as set forth in the complaint, is necessary to understand and resolve this issue.¹ On July 6, 1993, Appellant's decedent, Lynn S. Witthoeft, was bicycling on Walker Road, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. As Ms. Witthoeft approached Limekiln Drive, an automobile driven by Ms. Helen J. Myers struck her. Ultimately, Ms. Witthoeft died from the injuries sustained in the accident.

Prior to the events of July 1993, Ms. Myers had been a regular patient of Appellee, Dr. James C. Kiskaddon. Dr. Kiskaddon is a licensed physician whose practice of medicine is limited to ophthalmology. Four months prior to the accident, in March 1983, Dr. Kiskaddon performed a visual examination of Ms. Myers. His examination revealed that Ms. Myers had a visual acuity of 20/80 combined.

Appellant, Ms. Witthoeft's spouse, Henry G. Witthoeft, as personal representative of the decedent and on his own behalf, filed a complaint against Dr. Kiskaddon. Appellant's complaint consisted of three counts: a survival action, a wrongful death action, and a claim for punitive damages. The complaint alleged that the physician failed to inform Ms. Myers that she was not "legally authorized" to drive a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania and that Dr. Kiskaddon failed to report the results of Ms. Myers' examination to PennDOT as required by law. Appellant asserts that Ms. Myers' inability to see was the direct and proximate cause of the accident.

Dr. Kiskaddon filed preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer to the complaint as well as to the specific allegations in the complaint. The Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County found that Dr. Kiskaddon owed no duty to Ms. Witthoeft, as she was not a foreseeable victim of Dr. Kiskaddon's act or omission. Thus, the trial court granted Appellee's preliminary objections.

The Superior Court affirmed. Specifically, the three-member panel of the Superior Court unanimously determined that there was no duty to Ms. Witthoeft because there was no foreseeability of Ms. Witthoeft being the object of the physician's failure to notify PennDOT. Stated by the court another way, the injury was not assignable to Dr. Kiskaddon as a breach of a duty to disclose Ms. Myers' visual infirmity and its effect. Estate of Witthoeft v. Kiskaddon, 450 Pa.Super. 364, 676 A.2d 1223 (1996).

We granted allocatur to examine this issue which is all-important to the physicians and citizens of this Commonwealth.

Appellant first argues that under the laws of this Commonwealth, Dr. Kiskaddon had a legal obligation to report to PennDOT Ms. Myers' poor vision. In essence, Appellant looks to these notification requirements and from them contends that they authorize a private cause of action for damages against Dr. Kiskaddon based upon the physician's failure to notify PennDOT of Ms. Myers' poor vision.

The Motor Vehicle Code contains provisions regarding a driver's eligibility to obtain, and to retain, a driver's license. 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1518. These provisions encompass, inter alia, medical conditions that are presumed to impair driving. Pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1517, a Medical Advisory Board is charged with defining various mental and physical conditions that are deemed to affect the ability of a person to drive safely. Section 1518(b) requires physicians and certain others to report to PennDOT the name, date of birth, and address of each person diagnosed as having a specific disorder or disability. PennDOT may recall the operating privileges of one whose incompetence to drive a motor vehicle has been established under the Code. 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1519. The list of disorders and disabilities are found at 67 Pa.Code § 83.3-83.5. Specifically, the regulations promulgated under the Motor Vehicle Code require that:

these physical and mental criteria shall be used by physicians in conducting physical examinations of applicants for learner's permits and driver's licenses and by physicians and other persons authorized to diagnose and treat disorders and disabilities covered in this chapter in determining whether a person examined by the [physician] should be reported to the Department as having a disorder affecting the ability of the person to drive safely.

67 Pa.Code § 83.1.

Visual standards are found in 83.3:

(c) Visual acuity of less than 20/70. A person with visual acuity of less than 20/70 combined vision with best correction is not authorized to drive.

67 Pa.Code § 83.3(c).

Thus, Appellant seeks to impose a new liability on physicians for motor vehicle accidents caused by their patients through the physician's failure to comply with the notification requirements found in the Motor Vehicle Code.² We must determine whether the Motor Vehicle Code, or the regulations promulgated thereunder, expressly or implicitly provide for a private remedy. First, neither the Code nor the regulations expressly authorize a private cause of action for a failure to report a vision problem. Section 1518(b) of the Motor Vehicle Code merely requires physicians and others to report to PennDOT information on persons diagnosed as having a disorder or disability that PennDOT's Medical Advisory Board has determined affects their ability to drive. Such a report triggers PennDOT's investigation and possible further action to suspend the subject's driver's license. However, under the statute, a physician's failure to notify PennDOT of a disorder does not give rise to a private remedy to Appellant or anyone else. Simply stated, the terms of the statute do not expressly create a private cause of action. Thus, we are required to consider whether the statute implicitly creates a private remedy.

The United States Supreme Court has offered a three-prong analysis to assist in determining whether a private remedy is implicit in a statute not expressly providing one. Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975). The three factors under the Cort decision are:

[f]irst, is the plaintiff `one of the class for whose especial benefit the statute was enacted,'—that is, does the statute create a ... right in favor of the plaintiff? Second, is there any indication of legislative intent, explicit or implicit, either to create such a remedy or to deny one? Third, is it consistent with the underlying purposes of the legislative scheme to imply such a remedy for the plaintiff?

Id. at 78, 95 S.Ct. 2080 (citations omitted) (emphasis original).

We believe that the Cort decision offers a beneficial framework within which to analyze whether the statute at issue implicitly creates a private right of action.³ As the second Cort factor has been recognized as the "central inquiry" of the analysis, we begin with that prong. Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington, 442 U.S. 560, 575, 99 S.Ct. 2479, 61 L.Ed.2d 82 (1979); Alfred M. Lutheran Distributors, Inc. v. A.P. Weilersbacher, Inc., 437 Pa.Super. 391, 650 A.2d 83, 87 (1994); allocatur denied, 540 Pa. 627, 658 A.2d 791 (1995). Nowhere does the language found in the statute suggest that private parties may bring an action seeking damages for a failure to comply with the notification provisions. The intent of the reporting requirements is clear from its face. The statute simply requires notification by a physician to PennDOT under certain circumstances. Additionally, Appellant does not offer any legislative history to illuminate the General Assembly's intent. Our review finds that the statutory history offers no guidance as to this issue. Indeed, to the extent the statute discusses civil actions at all, it precludes a private cause of action. 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1518(f)("[n]o civil... action may be brought against any person or agency for providing the information required under this system.").⁴ This court is hesitant to infer or imply a legislative intent where the impact of such a leap would constitute a drastic change in law. Accord Hoy v. Angelone, 554 Pa. 134, 720 A.2d 745 (1998)

. We find that the second prong of the Cort analysis has not been satisfied.

Turning to the remaining secondary prongs, we must first consider whether allowing a cause of action against a physician would be consistent with the underlying statutory scheme. The statutory scheme authorizes PennDOT to adopt certain physical and mental criteria, including vision standards, for the licensing of drivers. These physical and mental criteria are used in conducting physical examinations of applicants for learner's permits and driver's licenses. The medical criteria also apply to subsequent examinations of drivers by their physicians. Upon discovery of certain disorders and disabilities covered by the regulations, physicians are required to notify PennDOT. Thus, rather than requiring the driving public to submit to periodic physical examinations by PennDOT, the Commonwealth has required physicians to report certain disorders and disabilities to PennDOT to assist it...