Hanks v. Seale

• Decision Date: 17 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2004-C-1485.,2004-C-1485.
• Citation: 904 So.2d 662
• Parties: Randy HANKS, et al. v. Dr. A. Kent SEALE, et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

904 So.2d 662

Randy HANKS, et al. v. Dr. A. Kent SEALE, et al.

No. 2004-C-1485.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 17, 2005.

Lundy & Davis, LLP, Michael Keith Prudhomme, Thomas Patrick LeBlanc, Lake Charles, Counsel for Applicant.

Raggio, Cappel, Chozen & Berniard, L. Paul Foreman, Vamvoras & Schwartzberg, LLC, Glen D. Vamvoras, Rudie Ray Soileau, Jr., Lake Charles, Counsel for Respondent.

KIMBALL, Justice.

We granted certiorari primarily to consider the issue of whether the Louisiana Patient's Compensation Fund is allowed to appeal a trial court's judgment of liability against a qualified health care provider when the provider has opted to forego his statutory right to appeal the judgment of liability and has instead satisfied the judgment rendered against him by paying plaintiff the amount owed. For the reasons that follow, we conclude the Fund's interest in this appeal is limited to the issue of excess damages and, as such, it is precluded from contesting the judgment of liability that became final upon the provider's satisfaction of judgment. We also determine that the evidence adduced at trial supports the jury's award of future medical expenses to plaintiff based on the severity of his condition and the likelihood of future complications and surgeries.

Facts and Procedural History

The facts of this case are largely undisputed. At the recommendation of his family doctor, Dr. Randall Wagman, Randy Hanks ("plaintiff") sought treatment for his esophageal reflux condition from defendant Dr. Walter Ledet on January 15, 1997. Dr. Ledet performed a diagnostic procedure known as an esophagogastroduodenoscopy ("EGD") and diagnosed plaintiff with a severe case of esophagitis, an inflammation of the esophagus. Six weeks later, and after a course of prescribed medication for the condition, Dr. Ledet performed a second EGD on plaintiff and found the inflammation was almost completely healed. However, plaintiff continued to suffer from an esophageal reflux condition.

In March 1998, plaintiff returned to his family doctor, Dr. Wagman, seeking to resolve his esophageal reflux condition. Dr. Wagman again referred plaintiff to Dr. Ledet. On April 7, 1998, Dr. Ledet scheduled plaintiff for surgery at West Calcasieu-Cameron Hospital to correct the esophageal reflux condition. This type of elective surgery, which involved the repair of a hiatal hernia and a Nissen fundoplication, usually involves a hospital stay of two to three days.

On April 13, 1998, Dr. Ledet, with the assistance of his partner, Dr. Kent Seale, performed the surgery on plaintiff. Following the surgery, plaintiff developed complications, including necrosis of the stomach tissue and infection in the abdominal cavity, which required several additional surgeries. Plaintiff was not released from the hospital until May 30, 1998. Since that time, plaintiff has been hospitalized many times and has undergone additional surgeries for problems and complications related to the initial surgery.

On April 8, 1999, in accordance with the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act ("MMA"), plaintiff submitted a request for a medical review proceeding. Following their review of the case, the three doctors on the panel issued differing opinions. All three doctors agreed that both Drs. Ledet and Seale had met the applicable standards of care regarding the surgery and the post-operative care of plaintiff. However, each panel member issued a different opinion regarding the issue of plaintiff's preoperative care. Dr. Baron Newton found the doctors' failure to perform EGD and manometry tests prior to the surgery deviated from the preoperative standard of care. Dr. Forrest Dean Griffen opined that the doctors' failure to perform a preoperative manometry study on esophageal motility was a breach of the standard of care; however, he concluded this breach did not cause the complications or subsequent problems suffered by plaintiff. Finally, Dr. Meyer Kaplan believed the preoperative care as well as all subsequent care by Drs. Ledet and Seale met the necessary standard of care.

Following the issuance of the medical review panel's opinion, plaintiff and his wife, Debra, individually and on behalf of their minor daughter, Kristina, filed a medical malpractice suit against Drs. Ledet and Seale. A trial by jury was subsequently held, with the jury finding in favor of plaintiff and his wife and assessing various damage awards. In response to special jury interrogatories, the jury found that plaintiffs had proven by a preponderance of the evidence the applicable standard of care in connection with plaintiff's treatment, that the treatment performed by Drs. Ledet and Seale breached this standard of care, and that this breach caused the injuries suffered by plaintiff. The jury awarded damages totaling $4,146,793.32 to plaintiff. This total award included damages in the amounts of $500,000.00 for past and future physical pain and suffering, $200,000.00 for past and future mental anguish, $628,860.32 for past medical expenses, $2,435,040.00 for future medical expenses, $100,000.00 for loss of enjoyment of life, $56,686.00 for past wages, and $226,207.00 for future wages/earning capacity. The jury also awarded plaintiff's wife $75,000.00 for her loss of consortium claim, but found that plaintiff's daughter did not prove a loss of consortium. On May 2, 2003, the district court issued judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict, assessing damages of $100,000 plus interest against each of the two doctors, and finding the State Treasurer's Office and the Office of Risk Management liable for the remaining damages subject to the limits provided in the MMA. The district court additionally assessed various items of costs against defendants.

Following the district court's denial of their motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, a motion for a new trial, Drs. Ledet and Seale each paid the statutory maximum of $100,000 plus interest, thereby satisfying the judgment against them and foregoing their rights to appeal. Subsequently, the Louisiana Patient's Compensation Fund (hereinafter "the Fund") intervened and filed a petition for suspensive appeal, which was granted by the district court on June 9, 2003.

The court of appeal affirmed the judgment of the district court, finding the Fund was precluded from contesting the liability of the doctors in light of their payments of $100,000 each. Hanks v. Seale, 04-9 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/12/04), 872 So.2d 647. In reaching its decision, the court of appeal relied upon this court's decision in Koslowski v. Sanchez, 576 So.2d 470 (La.1991), overruled in part by Russo v. Vasquez, 94-2407 (La.1/17/95), 648 So.2d 879,

for the proposition that the doctors' payments of $100,000 pursuant to the district court's judgment established their liability. The court of appeal concluded that because the doctors admitted their liability up to the statutory maximum, the Fund could not contest their liability.

The court of appeal also affirmed the district court's award of future medical expenses, finding that the jury's determination that plaintiff is entitled to future medical damages was clearly supported by the record. The court of appeal pointed out that the judgment did not require a lump sum payment of this award, that the Fund will be required to pay plaintiff's future medical costs as they become due, and that all future medical payments should be paid in accordance with the procedures detailed in the MMA.

Upon the Fund's application, we granted certiorari primarily to consider the issue of whether the Fund is entitled to contest the physicians' liability on appeal when the physicians have paid the statutory maximum amount in satisfaction of judgment and have forgone their rights to appeal. Hanks v. Seale, 04-1485 (La.10/14/04), 883 So.2d 1039.

Law and Discussion

In its first assignment of error, the Fund asserts the court of appeal erred in concluding that a post-judgment payment by a qualified health care provider in satisfaction of the judgment against him "gives rise to the statutory admission of liability provided for in La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5)(a)" such that the Fund is precluded from contesting liability on appeal. Additionally, the Fund asserts that to the extent this court's opinion in Koslowski supports the court of appeal's judgment, it should be overruled.

In 1975, the legislature enacted the MMA, La. R.S. 40:1299.41 et seq., to establish a framework for compensating persons who are injured as a result of medical malpractice committed by qualified health care providers. Bijou v. Alton Ochsner Med. Found., 95-3074, p. 4 (La.9/5/96), 679 So.2d 893, 896; Russo v. Vasquez, 94-2407, p. 5 (La.1/17/95), 648 So.2d 879, 882. The Act limits the liability of a single qualified health care provider to $100,000.00 plus interest for all malpractice claims for injuries to or death of a patient. La. R.S. 40:1299.42(B)(2). Any damages awarded or agreed to in excess of $100,000.00 may be recovered from the Fund; however, the total amount recoverable, exclusive of future medical care and related benefits, shall not exceed $500,000.00 plus interest and cost. La. R.S. 40:1299.42(B)(1) and (3).

As an initial matter, we note the Fund spends considerable time arguing that the statutory admission of liability provided by La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5)(e) does not apply in this case. We agree. As it currently exists, La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5)(e) provides:

In approving a settlement or determining the amount, if any, to be paid from the patient's compensation fund, the trier of fact shall consider the liability of the health care provider as admitted and established where the insurer has paid its policy limits of one hundred thousand dollars, or where the self-insured health care provider has paid one hundred thousand dollars.¹

According to the clear language of the Act, the procedure detailed in La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C) applies when "the insurer of...