Jean Ho-Rath v. Corning Incorporated Yendee Ho-Rath v. Rhode Island Hospital

Supreme Court of Rhode Island·Decided May 27, 2022·No. 20-227, 228·Published

Opinion

May 27, 2022

Supreme Court

Jean Ho-Rath et al. :

v. : No. 2020-227-Appeal.

(PC 10-4186)

Corning Incorporated et al. :

Yendee Ho-Rath et al. :

v. : No. 2020-228-Appeal.

(PC 17-125)

Rhode Island Hospital et al. :

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Rhode Island Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Opinion Analyst, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 250 Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, at Telephone 222-3258 or Email opinionanalyst@courts.ri.gov of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published.

Supreme Court

Jean Ho-Rath et al. :

v. : No. 2020-227-Appeal.

(PC 10-4186)

Corning Incorporated et al. :

Yendee Ho-Rath et al. :

v. : No. 2020-228-Appeal.

(PC 17-125)

Rhode Island Hospital et al. :

Present: Suttell, C.J., Robinson, and Lynch Prata, JJ.

OPINION

Justice Lynch Prata, for the Court. In these consolidated appeals the plaintiffs, Jean Ho-Rath, Bunsan Ho-Rath, and Yendee Ho-Rath (collectively plaintiffs),1 appeal from judgments of the Superior Court entered in favor of the defendants, Corning Incorporated (Corning), Quest Diagnostics, LLC (Quest), Rhode Island Hospital (RIH), Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (WIH),

1 The plaintiffs’ first names will be used throughout this opinion to avoid confusion. No disrespect is intended.

Marsha Sverdrup, M.S., and Jami A. Star, M.D. (collectively defendants).2 The plaintiffs assert that the hearing justice erred in finding that the defendants owed them no duty of care. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the judgments of the Superior Court.

Facts and Travel

This Court has twice before been presented with questions relative to the statute of limitations applicable to plaintiffs’ claims. See Ho-Rath v. Rhode Island Hospital, 115 A.3d 938, 946, 950 (R.I. 2015) (Ho-Rath II) (holding that a minor plaintiff in a medical malpractice action has two options to comply with the applicable statute of limitations: (1) suit may be filed on the minor’s behalf within three years of the occurrence or reasonable discovery of the alleged malpractice; or (2) the minor may file suit on their own behalf upon reaching the age of majority, and further holding that a parent’s claim for loss of consortium in a medical malpractice action is tolled in tandem with the minor’s claim from which it is derived); Ho-Rath v. Rhode Island Hospital, 89 A.3d 806, 812 (R.I. 2014) (Ho-Rath I) (holding that claims asserted by plaintiffs against laboratories sounded in ordinary negligence and were governed by the statute of limitations set forth in G.L. 1956

2 We recognize that there are various and differing claims asserted against each individual defendant. Some of these claims sound in medical negligence, while others sound in ordinary negligence. Unless this distinction implicates the analysis of the issues before this Court, we shall refer to the defendants collectively for ease of reference.

§ 9-1-19). Although many of the facts in this case are set forth in those opinions, because the present appeals involve a substantive challenge to the viability of plaintiffs’ claims, we shall set forth the facts and procedural history in toto.

Jean and Bunsan are the parents of Yendee, who was born January 9, 1998, at WIH. In the months and years following her birth, Yendee underwent genetic testing for alpha thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that impairs the production of hemoglobin and can lead to “severe and fatal anemia.” Stedman’s Medical Dictionary 1969 (28th ed. 2006). According to Jean, by October 2003 Yendee was “very ill[,]” and she was ultimately confirmed to have Hemoglobin H disease.

Yendee was Jean and Bunsan’s second child. During her first pregnancy, Jean presented to WIH for prenatal care and, due to her Southeast Asian descent, she was offered genetic counseling and testing “to possibly rule out carrier status of beta thalassemia.” The results of two hemoglobin electrophoreses performed by MetPath Teterboro Laboratory (MetPath)3 in February and May 1993 indicated that Jean had

3 According to interrogatory answers submitted by Quest, MetPath was acquired by Corning in 1982 and operated as a subsidiary corporation through 1996. Thereafter, MetPath was spun off into Quest, a named defendant in this case.

a normal pattern.4 Sanhkdee, Jean and Bunsan’s first child, was born on November 15, 1993, and, as part of a clinical project, WIH sent both Sanhkdee’s and Jean’s blood to RIH for hemoglobin electrophoresis.5 The results from RIH showed that both Jean and Sanhkdee tested positive for the presence of alpha thalassemia. Thereafter, Bunsan’s blood was sent to MetPath for hemoglobin electrophoresis; on December 28, 1993, it was reported that Bunsan had a normal pattern.

While pregnant with Yendee, Jean again presented to WIH for prenatal care and genetic counseling. A counselor and a doctor from WIH’s Prenatal Diagnosis Center prepared a report on July 29, 1997, detailing the presence of alpha thalassemia that became apparent after Sanhkdee’s birth. The report opined, based on an evaluation performed by B.E. Barker, Ph.D. at RIH’s Special Hematology Laboratory, that Sanhkdee “most likely has a two gene alpha thalassemia deletion as does Ms. Ho-Rath and that Mr. Rath most likely does not carry a two gene alpha thalassemia deletion, however a single gene alpha thalassemia mutation may be

4 Jean testified at her deposition on November 21, 2017, that the results of the February 1993 electrophoresis revealed that she had “a Thalassemia Trait and the genetic counselor want[ed] to find out if [her] husband has the same * * * Trait.” She recalled Bunsan being tested in 1993 but could not recall where he had that test. She stated that a genetic counselor at WIH told her that Bunsan’s blood work results were normal. There is no other evidence in the record of the results of that test. Moreover, the results of the February and May 1993 electrophoreses performed on Jean showed she had a normal pattern. 5 Sanhkdee is not a party to these proceedings.

present.” (Emphasis omitted.) The report stated that the health-care professionals from WIH discussed alpha thalassemia with Jean “in full[,]” and counseled her that if Bunsan carries “a single gene mutation there would be a 25% chance for this fetus to have hemoglobin H disease.”

When Yendee became seriously ill in 2003, her blood sample was tested by RIH’s Special Hematology Laboratory and it was confirmed that she had “Hemoglobin Constant Spring trait and a two gene deletion alpha thalassemia trait is present.” Approximately sixteen months later, Bunsan was tested by RIH’s laboratory; on May 6, 2005, Dr. Barker reported that Bunsan “has been shown to possess Hb Constant Spring trait.”

Jean and Bunsan first filed suit individually and on behalf of Yendee on July 12, 2010. The complaint alleged that numerous defendants, many of whom are not parties to the present appeal, were negligent in failing to properly diagnose, test, treat, and care for plaintiffs and that, as a result of the alleged negligence, Yendee suffered injuries and Jean and Bunsan suffered loss of consortium. A Superior Court justice entered judgments in favor of Corning, Quest, and WIH in August 2011 because she found that various claims advanced by plaintiffs were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. On appeal, this Court found that plaintiffs’ claims against Corning and Quest remained viable because they sounded in ordinary negligence and were tolled by § 9-1-19. Ho-Rath I, 89 A.3d at 812; see § 9-1-19 (“If

any person at the time of any such cause of action shall accrue to him or her shall be under the age of eighteen (18) years, * * * the person may bring the cause of action, within [three years], after the impediment is removed.”).

As to the remaining medical malpractice claims, this Court concluded—after full briefing and argument—that the applicable statute of limitations

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