Scholz v. Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C.

851 P.2d 901, 17 Brief Times Rptr. 703, 1993 Colo. LEXIS 395, 1993 WL 128509
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedApril 26, 1993
Docket92SA277
StatusPublished
Cited by90 cases

This text of 851 P.2d 901 (Scholz v. Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scholz v. Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C., 851 P.2d 901, 17 Brief Times Rptr. 703, 1993 Colo. LEXIS 395, 1993 WL 128509 (Colo. 1993).

Opinions

Chief Justice ROYIRA

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

Franz and Ingeborg Scholz appeal the district court’s ruling reducing the amount of damages awarded by a jury for noneco-nomic and derivative losses pursuant to the Health Care Availability Act (“HCAA”), sections 13-64-101 to -503, 6A C.R.S. (1992 Supp.), refusing to award prejudgment interest for future damages, and refusing to award all actual costs alleged to have been incurred by plaintiffs subsequent to defendant’s refusal of a settlement offer.1 We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I

In 1989, Franz Scholz developed a bladder problem. Scholz was examined by Dr. Myron Yakely, a specialist in the field of’ urology, who opined that Scholz’s problem was caused by an obstruction due to a reaction to medication Scholz was taking. Dr. Yakely’s examination also revealed a hardened spot in the prostate. An ultrasound, which revealed nothing abnormal, and a biopsy were taken. The biopsy was analyzed by Dr. Howard Pirch, a specialist in the field of pathology and an employee of Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C. (Metropolitan). When Metropolitan gave the results of the biopsy to Dr. Yakely, he advised Scholz that they were positive for cancer.

As a result of this diagnosis, Scholz underwent surgery for the removal of his prostate gland. Approximately two weeks after the operation, Dr. Yakely informed Scholz that the operation had been unnecessary as Scholz never had prostate cancer. Dr. Yakely explained that the misdiagnosis was the result of Metropolitan’s mislabeling of slides that were produced from the biopsy.

In 1990, the Scholzes filed suit alleging negligence against Dr. Yakely, Dr. Pirch, and Metropolitan. After learning of the genesis of the misdiagnosis, plaintiffs dismissed Drs. Pirch and Yakely from the suit, and added as a defendant Robert Cunningham, the lab technician responsible for labeling the slides.

The parties then entered into a pretrial stipulation for the dismissal of Cunningham as a defendant, while preserving plaintiffs’ claim that the HCAA was inapplicable to this case. At the beginning of trial, Metropolitan admitted liability and the case went to the jury solely on the issue of damages. The jury awarded total damages of $1,416,829 to Mr. Scholz2 and $159,250 to Mrs. Scholz on her derivative claim.3

Defendant then filed a motion for reduction of the jury verdict pursuant to the HCAA, arguing that plaintiffs’ combined recovery for noneconomic and derivative damages was limited to $250,000. Plaintiffs argued that the HCAA was inapplicable to this ease and, if the HCAA applied, [904]*904the provisions limiting the damage award were unconstitutional.

[903]*903Past economic loss $ 750
Past noneconomic loss $100,000
Future economic loss $ 8,500
Future noneconomic loss $ 50,000

[904]*904The district court denied plaintiffs’ motion for entry of judgment on the jury verdict — applying the HCAA and rejecting plaintiffs’ constitutional challenges. The court reduced the total noneconomic and derivative damages for both plaintiffs from $914,250 to $250,000. After the addition of prejudgment interest, judgment in favor of plaintiffs was entered in the total amount of $1,065,929.09. Defendant paid $1,000,-000 towards this judgment claiming that its total liability, including prejudgment interest, was limited to $1,000,000 under the HCAA.

II

The first issue for review concerns whether the HCAA is applicable to this case. Plaintiffs argue that because the injuries they suffered were caused by Cunningham, an unlicensed, nonprofessional lab technician, the HCAA is inapplicable as Cunningham is not a “health care professional” as that term is defined in the HCAA. We disagree.

Section 13-64-302, 6A C.R.S. (1992 Supp.), provides, in pertinent part, that:

The total amount recoverable for all damages for a course of care for all defendants in any civil action for damages in tort brought against a health care professional ... or a health care institution ... shall not exceed one million dollars, present value per patient, including any derivative claim by any other claimant, of which not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, present value per patient including any derivative claim by any other claimant, shall be attributable to noneconomic loss or injury....

The HCAA defines a health care professional as “any person licensed in this state or any other state to practice medicine, chiropractic, nursing, physical therapy, podiatry, dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, or other healing arts. The term includes any professional corporation or other professional entity comprised of such health care providers as permitted by the laws of this state.” § 13-64-202(4), 6A C.R.S. (1992 Supp.).4

The plain language of the statute indicates that any professional corporation or entity, which is comprised of the licensed health care professionals listed in the statute, is subject to the limits of the HCAA. Nothing in the definition of the HCAA suggests otherwise. Therefore, we conclude that based on the plain language of the statute, the HCAA is applicable to the present case.

Plaintiffs insist, however, that the inclusion of “professional corporations” and “professional entities” in the definition of a health care professional was intended only to prevent an injured plaintiff from avoiding the limitations of the HCAA by suing a professional entity rather than an individual who is expressly covered by the statute. We agree with plaintiffs insofar as their argument suggests that the definition of a health care professional precludes a plaintiff from avoiding the application of the HCAA through artful pleading. However, the statute clearly operates to preclude such an avoidance under the facts of this case. For example, the defendant has correctly observed that numerous, perhaps even the vast majority of, medical procedures require the assistance of unlicensed individuals such as Cunningham. In light of this fact, it is safe to assume that the legislature sought to prevent a plaintiff from naming some unlicensed employee whose conduct may have contributed to plaintiff’s injuries as a defendant (in addition to the professional entity itself under a theory of respondeat superior) and thereby avoid application of the HCAA.

To hold otherwise, and accept plaintiffs’ narrow application of the act, would clearly [905]*905frustrate the General Assembly’s intent, as expressed in the legislative declaration, in passing the HCAA’s damage limitation provisions. “Perhaps the best guide to [ascertaining the General Assembly’s] intent is the declaration of policy which frequently forms the initial part of a enactment.” St. Lukes Hosp. v. Industrial Comm’n, 142 Colo. 28, 32, 349 P.2d 995, 997 (1960). The legislative declaration of the HCAA states:

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Bluebook (online)
851 P.2d 901, 17 Brief Times Rptr. 703, 1993 Colo. LEXIS 395, 1993 WL 128509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scholz-v-metropolitan-pathologists-pc-colo-1993.