Miller by Miller v. Memorial Hosp. of South Bend, Inc.
| Decision Date | 28 May 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 75S03-9507-CV-803,75S03-9507-CV-803 |
| Citation | 679 N.E.2d 1329 |
| Parties | Nicholas Drew MILLER, a Minor by his next of friends and parents, Michael MILLER and Gail Miller, and Michael Miller and Gail Miller, individually, Appellants (Plaintiffs Below), v. MEMORIAL HOSPITAL OF SOUTH BEND, INC., Appellee (Defendant Below). |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
This appeal from the grant of summary judgment focuses primarily upon whether a plaintiffs' complaint sufficiently articulated two separate injuries so as to avoid certain limitations imposed by the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act. The plaintiffs, Nicholas Miller and his parents, Gail and Michael Miller, brought this medical malpractice suit alleging that Nicholas, born June 7, 1982, suffered injuries due to the conduct of Dr. Herbert Schiller and of defendant-appellee Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc. After the plaintiffs settled their claims against Dr. Schiller, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Memorial Hospital, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that the child suffered only one injury and was therefore precluded from further recovery. Miller v. Memorial Hosp. of South Bend, 645 N.E.2d 631, 634 (Ind.Ct.App.1994). We granted transfer.
When reviewing a grant of summary judgment, we use the same standard as the trial court: whether the pleadings and evidence demonstrate that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ambassador Fin. Servs. v. Indiana Nat'l Bank, 605 N.E.2d 746, 750-51 (Ind.1992); Ind. Trial Rule 56(C). We construe the pleadings, affidavits, and designated materials in a light most favorable to the non-movant, Heck v. Robey, 659 N.E.2d 498, 500-01 (Ind.1995), and give careful scrutiny to assure that the losing party is not improperly prevented from having its day in court. Landmark Health Care Assoc. L.P. v. Bradbury, 671 N.E.2d 113, 116 (Ind.1996).
As required by the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, Indiana Code Section 16-9.5-9-2 (), the plaintiffs, prior to bringing this action, presented their proposed complaint to a medical review panel and obtained an opinion from the panel. Virtually identical language was used in both the proposed complaint and the subsequently filed complaint upon which this action is based. Counts I and II seek judgment against Memorial Hospital for negligence and breach of contract "on and after June 7, 1982" when Nicholas was treated as a patient at the hospital. Record at 12-15, 90-94. Counts III and IV seek judgment against Dr. Schiller for conduct allegedly constituting negligence and breach of contract "on or about June 1, 1982." Record at 16-19, 95-99. After the law suit had been pending approximately one year, the plaintiffs settled their claims against Dr. Schiller and received the $500,000 maximum recovery authorized by the Medical Malpractice Act. IND.CODE § 16-9.5-2-2. The action was then dismissed as to Dr. Schiller only, "to remain pending as to all other defendants." Record at 72.
Memorial Hospital thereafter sought summary judgment alleging that the Medical Malpractice Act prohibits the plaintiffs from any recovery beyond the statutory maximum recovery for any one injury, and that "the injuries allegedly sustained by Miller as a result of the actions of Dr. Schiller and/or the Hospital are identical." Record at 86. Responding to Memorial Hospital's summary judgment motion, the plaintiffs asserted that its claims against Memorial Hospital are only for the postnatal injuries caused by the hospital, which are separate and different than the prenatal injuries caused by Dr. Schiller. Plaintiffs submitted the affidavit of Douglas A. Shanklin, M.D., a physician and medical school professor specializing in neuropathology, which identified and distinguished two separate injuries. According to Dr. Shanklin, "prior to becoming a patient at defendant hospital, Nicholas suffered a prenatal injury caused by Dr. Schiller's failure to avoid and appropriately treat posttermism resulting in prenatal hypoxia which caused some cortical and subcortical gliosis." Record at 152. Dr. Shanklin faulted Memorial Hospital for "allowing Nicholas to continue with a zero blood glucose until well over an hour post-admission [resulting] in significant postnatal infarctions to Nicholas' occipital lobes and parietal brain." Id. Dr. Shanklin's affidavit states that "the postnatal injury caused by the hospital's breach of the appropriate standard of care is a different and separate injury from the prenatal injury caused by the obstetrician with different parts of the brain being effected by the prenatal hypotisic insult and the postnatal metabolic insult ... making the injuries distinct in character...." Record at 153.
In reply, Memorial Hospital argued that the plaintiffs never raised the distinction between prenatal and postnatal injuries in their proposed complaint, the submission to the medical review panel, or in their subsequent complaint filed in court.
The trial court granted Memorial Hospital's Motion for Summary Judgment, stating in pertinent part:
The defendant claims that Plaintiffs received their statutory maximum recovery permitted under the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act. The plaintiffs never raised in their proposed complaint before the Department of Insurance, their submission to the Medical Review Panel, or in their Complaint filed in this Court that they are distinguishing between pre-natal and post-natal injuries. The Plaintiffs now claim separate injuries and hence separate causes of action.
The Court finds that there are no genuine issues of any material facts in dispute and that the law is with the Defendant. The Court further finds that the Plaintiffs have received their statutory maximum. Summary Judgment should be entered for the defendant Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc.
On appeal, the plaintiffs contend that the materials before the court establish a genuine issue of material fact regarding the existence of postnatal injuries caused by Memorial Hospital as separate and distinct from prenatal injuries caused by Dr. Schiller, and that their...
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