Osborne v. US

• Decision Date: 03 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. 30115.,30115.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: Gorman Dale OSBORNE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants.

567 S.E.2d 677

211 W.Va. 667

Gorman Dale OSBORNE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants.

No. 30115.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted March 12, 2002.

Decided July 3, 2002.

Dissenting Opinion of Justice Maynard, July 8, 2002.

Sean P. McGinley, Rudolph L. DiTrapano, J. Timothy DiPiero, Mary Sadd Blaydes, DiTrapano, Barrett & DiPiero, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for plaintiffs.

Kasey Warner, United States Attorney, Stephen M. Horn, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, Charleston, West Virginia, for defendants.

Michele Grinberg, C. Benjamin Salango, Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, P.L.L.C., Charleston, West Virginia, for Amicus Curiae, West Virginia State Medical Association. DAVIS, Chief Justice.

This case comes before us upon certification from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. By order entered September 20, 2001,¹ the district court presents the following certified question: "Does West Virginia's Medical Professional Liability Act provide a cause of action by a third party against a health care provider for foreseeable injuries to the third party proximately caused by the health care provider's negligent treatment of a patient/tortfeasor?" Upon a review of the record presented for appellate consideration, the parties' arguments, and the pertinent authorities, we answer the certified question in the affirmative. We conclude that the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act [hereinafter referred to as the "MPLA"], W.Va.Code § 55-7B-1, et seq., does permit a third party to bring a cause of action against a health care provider for foreseeable injuries that were proximately caused by the health care provider's negligent treatment of a tortfeasor patient. However, in order to maintain such a third party action under the MPLA, the plaintiff must establish the elements of proof contained in W.Va.Code § 55-7B-3 (1986) (Repl.Vol.2000).

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Upon certification to this Court, the district court has ascertained the following facts.² On July 20, 1997, the plaintiffs herein were permanently and fatally injured when the vehicle in which they were riding was struck by a vehicle driven by defendant Terry Hoosier [hereinafter referred to as "Mr. Hoosier"]. Sammy Hubbard died as a result of his injuries; his wife, Lynn Hubbard, sustained serious injuries and was comatose for five days following the accident; their five-year-old daughter, Katie Hubbard, was rendered paralyzed from the waist down; and their nineteen-day-old son, Seth Hubbard, was not harmed. Blood alcohol tests following the accident showed that Mr. Hoosier had trace amounts of alcohol in his system, while blood testing for medications revealed the presence of Butalbital, Codeine, and Valium. It is presumed that the Butalbital and Codeine are attributable to prescription medications prescribed by Mr. Hoosier's longtime physician, Dr. Prakob Srichai [hereinafter referred to as "Dr. Srichai"].³

Dr. Srichai and Mr. Hoosier have had a physician-patient relationship since approximately 1980. The district court found that, during the seventeen year period immediately preceding the accident, Dr. Srichai had prescribed numerous medications for Mr. Hoosier, including several controlled substances for the management of pain, but that Dr. Srichai did not always verify that such medications were medically necessary. For example, various injuries with which Mr. Hoosier presented to the local emergency room were inconsistent with the range of motion he reported to Dr. Srichai during office visits, and which physical limitations Dr. Srichai found to exist. Moreover, following Mr. Hoosier's release from incarceration in October, 1995,⁴ during which he had been weaned from all medications, he presented to Dr. Srichai's office. At this visit, seven days after his release, Mr. Hoosier reported that he needed prescriptions for nine different medications that he had been taking while in jail, several of which were controlled pain management substances; it does not appear, however, that Dr. Srichai validated that such medications were necessary for the maintenance of Mr. Hoosier's health.

As a result of the injuries they sustained in the accident with Mr. Hoosier, the plaintiffs⁵ filed suit in the Circuit Court of Logan County against Dr. Srichai and his employer, Community Health Foundation of Man, Inc. [hereinafter referred to as "CHF"], alleging medical professional liability resulting from the negligent prescription of controlled substances to a patient with a known prescription drug dependency. Mr. Hoosier was also named as a party defendant. On September 9, 1999, the action was removed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia due to CHF's status as a federally funded program under the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the exclusive jurisdiction of federal courts over claims brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act.⁶

Thereafter, Dr. Srichai and CHF moved to substitute the United States as the party defendant based upon CHF's position as an agent of the United States and Dr. Srichai's status as an employee thereof acting within the scope of his employment. In conjunction with the United States' substitution as the defendant to this proceeding, Dr. Srichai and CHF were dismissed from this action.

Following various arguments by both parties regarding the justiciability of a third party cause of action under the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act, the district court, by order entered May 3, 2001, denied the United States' motion for summary judgment and preliminarily found that the MPLA permitted the plaintiffs' claims. Upon a bench trial, the district court concluded, by order entered August 23, 2001, that the plaintiffs had satisfactorily proven their entitlement to relief under the MPLA for injuries occasioned by Dr. Srichai's negligent treatment of Mr. Hoosier. Thereafter, by order entered September 20, 2001, the district court certified the above-quoted question of law to this Court, requesting this Court to determine whether a third party cause of action is permitted by the MPLA.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

When this Court is called upon to resolve a certified question, we employ a plenary review. "`A de novo standard is applied by this [C]ourt in addressing the legal issues presented by a certified question from a federal district or appellate court.' Syl. Pt. 1, Light v. Allstate Ins. Co., 203 W.Va. 27, 506 S.E.2d 64 (1998)." Syl. pt. 2, Aikens v. Debow, 208 W.Va. 486, 541 S.E.2d 576 (2000). Accord Syl. pt. 1, Bower v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 206 W.Va. 133, 522 S.E.2d 424 (1999) ("This Court undertakes plenary review of legal issues presented by certified question from a federal district or appellate court.").

The particular question that has been certified for our determination in the case sub judice requires us to interpret the provisions of the Medical Professional Liability Act. As such, we also accord a plenary review to this statutory inquiry. "Where the issue on an appeal from the circuit court is clearly a question of law or involving an interpretation of a statute, we apply a de novo standard of review." Syl. pt. 1, Chrystal R.M. v. Charlie A.L., 194 W.Va. 138, 459 S.E.2d 415 (1995). Accord State v. Paynter, 206 W.Va. 521, 526, 526 S.E.2d 43, 48 (1999)

("To the extent that we are asked to interpret a statute or address a question of law, our review is de novo."); Syl. pt. 1, Appalachian Power Co. v. State Tax Dep't of West Virginia, 195 W.Va. 573, 466 S.E.2d 424 (1995) ("Interpreting a statute or an administrative rule or regulation presents a purely legal question subject to de novo review."). With these standards in mind, we proceed to consider the parties' arguments.

III. DISCUSSION

In the case presently before us, we are asked to answer the following question of law certified by the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia: "Does West Virginia's Medical Professional Liability Act provide a cause of action by a third party against a health care provider for foreseeable injuries to the third party proximately caused by the health care provider's negligent treatment of a patient/tortfeasor?" The district court answered this question in the affirmative, finding that the Hubbards' cause of action against the defendants was proper in this case. Before this Court, the Hubbards maintain that the district court's conclusion is correct, while the defendants⁷ argue that the governing statutes do not support the maintenance of the plaintiffs' claims.

As the matter presented for our determination concerns a question of statutory construction, we must first examine the statutory provisions upon which the plaintiffs base their right of recovery. W.Va.Code § 55-7B-1 (1986) (Repl.Vol.2000) sets forth the purpose of the Medical Professional Liability Act [MPLA], in part,⁸ as recognizing:

That as in every human endeavor the possibility of injury or death from negligent conduct commands that protection of the public served by health care providers be recognized as an important state interest That our system of litigation is an essential component of this state's interest in providing adequate and reasonable compensation to those persons who suffer from injury or death as a result of professional negligence;

....

Therefore, the purpose of this enactment is to provide for a comprehensive resolution of the matters and factors which the Legislature finds must be addressed to accomplish the goals set forth above. In so doing, the Legislature has determined that reforms in the common law and statutory rights of our citizens to compensation for injury and death ... must be enacted together as necessary and mutual ingredients of the appropriate legislative response.

In recognizing the need...