Giacalone v. Helen Ellis Memorial Hosp.

• Decision Date: 01 May 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2D08-4807.,2D08-4807.
• Citation: 8 So.3d 1232
• Parties: Andrew GIACALONE, Petitioner, v. HELEN ELLIS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION, INC., Respondent.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

8 So.3d 1232

Andrew GIACALONE, Petitioner, v. HELEN ELLIS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION, INC., Respondent.

No. 2D08-4807.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

May 1, 2009.

Michael D. Walrath and Matthew W. Dietz of Law Offices of Matthew W. Dietz, P.L., Miami, for Petitioner.

Robert A. Vigh of Solomon, Ginsberg, and Vigh, P.A., Tampa, for Respondent.

WALLACE, Judge.

Andrew Giacalone petitions this court for a writ of certiorari to quash the circuit court's order denying his motion to compel responses to discovery requests propounded to Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital Foundation, Inc.¹ We hold that the circuit court's order departed from the essential requirements of the law, causing material injury to Mr. Giacalone for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Accordingly, we grant the petition and quash the circuit court's order.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 13, 2006, Mr. Giacalone was admitted to the Hospital on an emergency basis and underwent surgery during which a pacemaker was implanted. On his admission to the Hospital, Mr. Giacalone signed a standard form in which he agreed—in pertinent part—"to pay the account at the hospital in accordance with the regular rates and terms of the hospital." Mr. Giacalone was uninsured and requested that he be treated under the Hospital's charity program, claiming that he had no income or available credit. He was released on October 16, 2006. The next day, Mr. Giacalone paid the Hospital $1000 on his account. Subsequently, the Hospital determined that Mr. Giacalone was not eligible for the charity program.

On December 13, 2006, the Hospital's attorneys sent Mr. Giacalone a letter notifying him that he owed the Hospital $52,280.70. Mr. Giacalone responded promptly in writing and disputed the charges.

In February 2007, the Hospital filed an action against Mr. Giacalone seeking to recover the unpaid charges. Mr. Giacalone answered, asserting the affirmative defenses of unconscionability (unreasonable pricing), lack of mutual assent and fraudulent nondisclosure, and undue influence. He also counterclaimed, alleging claims for unfair or deceptive trade practices, breach of contract (implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing), and for declaratory relief. The central theme of Mr. Giacalone's defenses and counterclaims was that the Hospital's charges for its services were unreasonable and unconscionable.

Subsequently, Mr. Giacalone served on the Hospital a request for production of documents and a set of interrogatories. The Hospital objected to the production of most of the documents and declined to respond to several of the interrogatories. Mr. Giacalone filed a motion to compel discovery. After a hearing, the circuit court issued a form order denying the motion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A party seeking review of a pretrial discovery order must show that the trial court's order departed from the essential requirements of law and caused "material injury to the petitioner throughout the remainder of the proceedings below, effectively leaving no adequate remedy on appeal." Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, 509 So.2d 1097, 1099 (Fla.1987). Certiorari is rarely available to review orders denying discovery because in most cases the harm can be corrected on appeal. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Peters, 611 So.2d 597, 598 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); see also Power Plant Entm't, LLC v. Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Dev. Co., 958 So.2d 565, 567 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) ("[F]ew orders denying discovery will involve information so relevant and crucial to the position of the party seeking discovery, that it will amount to a departure from the essential requirements of law so as to warrant certiorari review.").

However, when the requested discovery is relevant or is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence² and the order denying that discovery effectively eviscerates a party's claim, defense, or counterclaim, relief by writ of certiorari is appropriate. The harm in such cases is not remediable on appeal because there is no practical way to determine after judgment how the requested discovery would have affected the outcome of the proceedings. See Bush v. Schiavo, 866 So.2d 136, 140 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); Beekie v. Morgan, 751 So.2d 694, 698 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); Criswell v. Best W. Int'l, Inc., 636 So.2d 562, 563 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994).

DISCUSSION

The primary claim on which Mr. Giacalone bases his defenses and counterclaims is that the charges for the supplies and services rendered to him by the Hospital were unreasonable. The information Mr. Giacalone sought by his motion to compel was broadly pertinent to the Hospital's charges and the discounts granted to the various categories of patients that it serves (e.g., self-pay patients, Medicare patients, Medicaid patients, charity care patients, and privately insured patients) and to the Hospital's internal cost structure. Mr. Giacalone argues that this information was not only relevant but critical to establish his defenses and counterclaims. We agree.

In Payne v. Humana Hospital Orange Park, 661 So.2d 1239 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), the First District noted:

A patient may not be bound by unreasonable charges in an agreement to pay charges in accordance with "standard and current rates." Mercy Hosp. v. Carr, 297 So.2d 598, 599 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). When a contract fails to fix a price furthermore, a reasonable price is implied. See F.L. Stitt & Co. v. Powell, 94 Fla. 550, 556, 114 So. 375, 378 (1927) (holding that, where a contract for legal services fails to expressly provide for the amount of the fee, a "reasonable" fee is implied); McGill v. Cockrell, 88 Fla. 54, 58, 101 So. 199, 201 (1924) (where a contract fixes no definite sum to be paid for services, "a reasonable sum is presumed by law to have been contemplated by the parties"); cf. 19A Fla. Stat. Ann. 218 (1993) (§ 672.305(2): "A price to be fixed by the seller or by the buyer means a price for him to fix good faith."), cmt. at 219 ("This seemingly unnecessary admonition was included to deny to the seller the unbridled license to fix any exorbitant or unreasonable price he may wish.").

Id. at 1241 (footnote omitted). Thus the reasonableness of the Hospital's charges was the primary issue to be determined in the pending action. We also note that the Hospital first placed the reasonableness of its charges at issue by alleging in its complaint that "[t]he reasonable value of [its] unpaid services totals $52,280.70."

In Colomar v. Mercy Hospital, Inc., 461 F.Supp.2d 1265 (S.D.Fla.2006), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida outlined three nonexclusive kinds of evidence relevant to the determination of a claim of unreasonable pricing by a hospital:

A thorough review of the case law from Florida and elsewhere leads to the conclusion that no single factor can be used to determine the reasonableness of Mercy's hospital charges. Rather, several non-exclusive factors are relevant to the inquiry. As discussed in more detail below, those factors include but are not necessarily...