FLA. EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS-KANG & ASSOCIATES v. Parker

800 So. 2d 631, 2001 WL 1219484
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 12, 2001
Docket5D00-1400
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 800 So. 2d 631 (FLA. EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS-KANG & ASSOCIATES v. Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
FLA. EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS-KANG & ASSOCIATES v. Parker, 800 So. 2d 631, 2001 WL 1219484 (Fla. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

800 So.2d 631 (2001)

FLORIDA EMERGENCY PHSICIANS-KANG AND ASSOCATES, M.D., P.A., Appellant,
v.
H. Clay PARKER, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Gabriel David Anderson, Appellee.

No. 5D00-1400.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

October 12, 2001.
Rehearing Denied December 7, 2001.

*632 Shelley H. Leinicke & Richard E. Ramsey of Wicker, Smith, Tutan, O'Hara, McCoy, Graham & Ford, P.A., Ft. Lauderdale, for appellant.

Marcia K. Lippincott of Marcia K. Lippincott, P.A., Lake Mary and Elizabeth H. Faiella of Elizabeth H. Faiella, P.A., Winter Park, for appellee.

ORFINGER, R.B., J.

Florida Emergency Physicians-Kang & Associates, M.D., P.A. (FEP) appeals a final judgment in favor of H. Clay Parker, as personal representative of the Estate of Gabriel Anderson, in a wrongful death action arising out of a medical negligence claim. On appeal, FEP argues that the trial court erred by (1) refusing to compel two of Anderson's minor children to participate in a compulsory psychological examination pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.360; (2) excluding evidence that Anderson was a "deadbeat dad"; and (3) disallowing evidence that the mother of two of Anderson's minor children had remarried.

Gabriel Anderson, age 24, died from a ruptured aneurism, leaving three surviving children. A jury found FEP and two of its physician employees, Angela Garcia, M.D., and Kahang Chan, M.D., 75% responsible for Anderson's death. The jury also found Phillip St. Louis, M.D., a non-party, 25% responsible for Anderson's death. The jury awarded damages of $3,000,000 to each child, reduced to $2,225,000 per child due to Dr. St. Louis' negligence. The record contains substantial competent evidence to support the jury's finding of liability.

At the time of his death, Anderson resided with Carrie Anderson (Carrie) and their two children, Devin, age three, and *633 Alanna, age two. Anderson was also the father of Samantha Irelan, age seven, born as a result of a previous relationship with Susan Irelan with whom Samantha resided in Georgia. Although Carrie considered herself to be Anderson's wife, they were never legally married. Rather, Carrie claimed that they had a common-law marriage recognized by the state of Georgia; however, this was never established as a matter of law.

After Anderson died, his personal representative brought an action against FEP under the Florida Wrongful Death Act.[1]See §§ 768.16-.27, Fla. Stat. (1999). The action was brought solely on behalf of Devin, Alanna, and Samantha, Anderson's three minor children. Carrie did not bring a claim. The estate, on behalf of the children, sought compensation solely for "lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering," pursuant to section 768.21(3). No claim was brought for economic damages.

Prior to trial, FEP sought a compulsory psychological examination of Devin, then age three, and Alanna, then age four, pursuant to rule 1.360. Importantly, no examination of Samantha was sought, although unlike Devin and Alanna, FEP had taken the depositions of Samantha and her mother. Rule 1.360(a)(2) provides:

(a) A party may request any other party to submit to ... [an] examination by a qualified expert when the condition that is the subject of the requested examination is in controversy.
* * *
(2) An examination under this rule is authorized only when the parties submitting the request has good cause for the examination. At any hearing the party submitting the request shall have the burden of showing good cause.

The estate, through its personal representative, objected to the examination contending that (1) the mental condition of the minors was not in controversy; (2) there was no good cause for such an examination; and (3) the examination would be an invasion of the children's privacy. Though not argued by the estate, the trial judge concluded that the children were not parties to the litigation, and therefore, not subject to the requirements of rule 1.360.

A wrongful death action may be brought only by the personal representative for the benefit of the decedent's survivors and estate. Williams v. Infinity Ins. Co., 745 So.2d 573, 576 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). See § 768.20, Fla. Stat. (1999); Cont'l Nat'l Bank v. Brill, 636 So.2d 782, 784 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). The personal representative is a nominal party to the action while the estate and the survivors are the real parties in interest on whose behalf recovery is sought. Morgan v. Am. Bankers Life Assurance Co. of Fla., 605 So.2d 104, 104 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) ("At the outset, we recognize that under substantive law the decedent's survivors are the real parties in interest. Nonetheless, the Legislature has mandated that a decedent's personal representative is the party `who shall recover for the benefit of the decedent's survivors and estate all damages....'") (quoting § 768.20, Fla. Stat. (1991)); see also City of Pompano Beach v. T.H.E. Ins. Co., 709 So.2d 603, 605 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) ("They are brought on behalf of the survivors, not to recover for injuries to the deceased, but to recover for statutorily identified losses the survivors have suffered directly as a result of the death.") (citation omitted); Ding v. Jones, 667 So.2d 894, 895 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) ("Even though a wrongful death action *634 must be brought by the personal representative of the estate as a nominal party on behalf of the surviving spouse, the real party in interest is the surviving spouse."). Here, the wrongful death action was brought on behalf of Anderson's three minor children, the real parties in interest. Accordingly, the trial court erred in concluding that Anderson's minor children were not parties to the action and therefore not subject to the provisions of rule 1.360. But our inquiry does not stop there. We must next determine whether the ruling was right for some other reason or whether the error was harmless. "Even though a trial court's ruling is based on improper reasoning, the ruling will be upheld if there is any theory or principle of law in the record which would support the ruling." Dade County Sch. Bd. v. Radio Station WQBA, 731 So.2d 638, 644 (Fla. 1999).[2]

As previously discussed, rule 1.360(a)(2) provides that subject to a showing of a good cause, "a party may request any other party to submit to ... [an] examination by a qualified expert when the condition that is the subject of the requested examination is in controversy." Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.360(a)(1). When a plaintiff in a negligence action asserts that he has sustained a mental or physical injury, he places his condition in controversy, and good cause for the examination is therefore shown.[3]See Broward County Sch. Bd. v. Cruz, 761 So.2d 388, 392 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. granted, 779 So.2d 270 (Fla. 2000); Dominique v. Yellow Freight Sys., Inc., 642 So.2d 594 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), rev. denied, 651 So.2d 1193 (Fla.1995). It is not enough that the defendants are allowed to review the plaintiff's medical or psychiatric records and to depose plaintiff's medical or psychiatric experts. Dominque, 642 So.2d at 596.

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Bluebook (online)
800 So. 2d 631, 2001 WL 1219484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fla-emergency-physicians-kang-associates-v-parker-fladistctapp-2001.