Hoard v. Shawnee Mission Medical Center

• Decision Date: 29 April 1983
• Docket Number: No. 54448,54448
• Citation: 233 Kan. 267,662 P.2d 1214
• Parties: Raymond HOARD and Mary S. Hoard, Appellants, v. SHAWNEE MISSION MEDICAL CENTER, a corporation, and Overland Park Family Medical Practice, P.A., Appellees.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Page 1214

662 P.2d 1214

233 Kan. 267

Raymond HOARD and Mary S. Hoard, Appellants, v. SHAWNEE MISSION MEDICAL CENTER, a corporation, and Overland

Park Family Medical Practice, P.A., Appellees.

No. 54448.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

April 29, 1983.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Generally, there can be no recovery for emotional distress by the defendant's negligence unless it is accompanied by or results in immediate physical injury to the plaintiff.

2. Recovery may not be had where the cause of the injury is too remote and speculative and where the alleged resulting damages are too conjectural and speculative to form a sound basis for measurement.

3. Proof of four elements is required to establish the tort of outrage: (1) The conduct of the defendant must be intentional or in reckless disregard of the plaintiff; (2) the conduct must be extreme and outrageous; (3) there must be a causal connection between the defendant's conduct and the plaintiff's mental distress; and (4) the plaintiff's mental distress must be extreme and severe.

4. The record is examined in an action based on the negligent infliction of emotional distress and the tort of outrage and it is held: (1) the alleged injuries suffered by the plaintiffs are too conjectural, speculative and remote in time from the incident complained of to allow recovery upon the basis of negligent infliction of emotional distress, and (2) the defendants' conduct was not sufficiently reckless, extreme or outrageous as to subject it to liability based upon the tort of outrage.

Keith Martin of Payne & Jones, Chartered, Olathe, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellants.

Kenneth J. Reilly of Boddington & Brown, Kansas City, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellee Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

Ronald C. Newman of Mustain & Newman, Chartered, Kansas City, was on the brief for appellee Overland Park Family Medical Practice, P.A.

SCHROEDER, Chief Justice:

This is an appeal by Raymond and Mary S. Hoard (plaintiffs-appellants) from a summary judgment and directed verdict entered against them and in favor of Shawnee Mission Medical Center and Overland Park Family Medical Practice, P.A. (defendants-appellees). The issue presented is whether under the controlling facts in this case the parents of a minor daughter can recover under theories of negligent infliction of emotional distress or the tort of outrage for emotional and physical damages alleged to have been sustained as a result of being told their daughter had died, when in fact she had not but was critically injured and in another hospital.

This lawsuit arises out of an unfortunate series of events which took place in the early morning hours of August 8, 1979. The facts are essentially undisputed. Around 10:30 p.m. on August 7, 1979, the plaintiffs' seventeen-year-old daughter Lisa, along with five other teenagers, was involved in a serious one-car accident in southern Johnson County. Both Lisa Hoard and the driver of the car, Kathleen Iveson, suffered massive head injuries. Lisa had no identification with her in the car. Three of the teenagers, including Lisa Hoard, were taken to Suburban Medical Center for treatment. Kathleen Iveson and two less seriously injured passengers were taken by ambulance to Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

The ambulance carrying Kathleen Iveson to Shawnee Mission Medical Center arrived at the emergency room of the hospital shortly after midnight on August 8, 1979. Miss Iveson had not yet been identified and was therefore originally admitted as "John Doe," which was soon thereafter changed to "Jane Doe" when it was determined the patient was female. The patient had been stripped of clothing in the course of emergency procedures performed prior to her arrival at the hospital and thus no clothing or other personal belongings accompanied the patient when she was admitted.

James Pike, an Olathe police officer, was present at the scene of the accident and subsequently went to Shawnee Mission Medical Center to determine the condition of the patients there and assist in identifying the unidentified patient. He arrived shortly after the ambulance carrying Miss Iveson. He talked to one of the teenagers involved in the accident and obtained the names of the six occupants in the car. About this time another officer at Suburban Medical Center also obtained the names of the six occupants from another passenger. He communicated these names along with the names of the three teenagers at Suburban Medical Center to a third officer at police headquarters, Chief Barnes. Among the three patients identified as being at Suburban was Kathleen Iveson. During oral arguments counsel indicated that Lisa Hoard was mistakenly identified at Suburban as Kathleen Iveson because Miss Iveson's purse had been mistakenly sent with Miss Hoard to Suburban. By the process of elimination Officer Pike and Chief Barnes determined that the unidentified patient at Shawnee Mission Medical Center was Lisa Hoard. Officer Pike then informed the admitting clerk at Shawnee Mission that the name of the patient was Lisa Hoard.

Shortly thereafter a representative of Shawnee Mission Medical Center telephoned the appellants, informing them their daughter had been in an accident and they should come to the hospital. Upon their arrival they were told Lisa had suffered critical injuries and other close family members should be contacted. The Hoards asked if the hospital was sure the patient was Lisa and were told that positive identification had been made. Mrs. Hoard asked if there was any clothing, a purse or jewelry brought in with the patient that they could see to make sure it was Lisa. They were informed that no personal belongings had been brought in with the patient. They asked at various times if they could see Lisa, but were told it was not possible because of the severity of her condition and that it would interfere with the lifesaving procedures which were being performed. They were told they could see her after her condition stabilized.

For the next hour or so, the appellants and their family were kept informed on the critical condition of their daughter. At one point in time they were told by the hospital chaplain that they couldn't see Lisa because "as fast as they were pumping blood into her it was gushing out of her head." During this time Mary Hoard spoke with Officer Pike who had remained at the hospital. Officer Pike described the accident to Mrs. Hoard and indicated to her that Lisa was there at Shawnee Mission Medical Center receiving treatment. Sometime around 2:00 a.m. the appellants were informed their daughter had died. Mrs. Hoard became nauseated and had to be taken to the restroom and Mr. Hoard fell to his knees and began to sob. Medical records indicate the patient arrived at the hospital one hour and forty minutes prior to death, and during that time had been given seven units of blood.

The appellants were asked to select a funeral home and had to sign a form to release the body to the funeral home. As the Hoard family was leaving the hospital, the appellants' son-in-law was asked to identify the body. He determined he could not be sure the patient was Lisa Hoard. A nurse ran out to the parking lot and told the appellants that there may have been a mistake concerning the identity of the patient. Mr. Hoard fainted and was caught by a priest accompanying them. The family returned to the hospital where Mrs. Hoard was asked to identify a necklace found on the patient. She said it did not belong to Lisa. (It was brought out in oral arguments that this necklace was concealed during treatment underneath a cervical collar which was placed on the patient at the accident and was apparently only discovered when the collar was removed after the patient's death. This was not brought out by the plaintiffs' evidence at trial, except for an attempt to show that the necklace would have shown up on a neck X-ray taken during treatment, inferring that the hospital should have been aware of it before the victim died.)

One of the appellants' sons was then asked to identify the patient and he determined it was not Lisa. About this time relatives of Kathleen Iveson arrived at the hospital and informed the Hoards that Lisa was at Suburban Medical Center.

The Hoards arrived at Suburban Medical Center around 3:30 a.m. and were told their daughter was in critical condition, having suffered severe head injuries. Throughout the night and the next several days the Hoards were informed that Lisa might die, but that if she survived she would not be the same. Lisa remained in intensive care in a coma for the next six weeks. During that time the Hoards were required to authorize life saving operative procedures on several occasions. Mrs. Hoard stayed at the hospital continually throughout this time, going home only to eat an occasional meal with her family and do laundry, despite advice from her doctor to remain at home and get some rest. Mr. Hoard also spent a great deal of time at the hospital.

Lisa's condition slowly improved. Although she was able to return home, she required constant care and it was necessary for the appellants to hire nurses to assist with Lisa's care. Lisa underwent rehabilitative treatment in Kansas City and Denver, Colorado, and relearned to talk. Although confined to a wheelchair, she is also learning to walk again. It is undisputed that the fact of the accident itself and Lisa's resulting severe injuries, as well as her extensive recovery, rehabilitation and continuing care, have been a tremendous emotional and physical stress on the appellants.

Both appellants suffered from various health problems prior to August 7, 1979. Mr. Hoard was diagnosed as having heart disease in 1950 when he was discharged from the service. In 1977 he was admitted to a hospital emergency room with chest pains which were diagnosed as angina. At the time of the accident he was overweight and had been advised...