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Spradlin v. Acadia-St. Landry Medical Foundation2/29/2000
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF ACADIA
This is an action against a private hospital for survival and wrongful death damages. This matter is before the court on an exception of prematurity. The narrow issue is whether plaintiffs' claims under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), 42 U.S.C. §1395dd, and under the Louisiana "anti-dumping" statute, La. Rev. Stat. 40:2113.4-2113.6, when the claims are joined with medical malpractice claims, are subject to the pre-suit medical review panel requirement of the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act, La. Rev. Stat. 40:1299.47A.
Facts
On August 24, 1995, at 12:45 p.m., Rickey Spradlin took his wife to the emergency room of defendant's private hospital with complaints of vomiting, upper back pain, fever and diarrhea. Mrs. Spradlin was examined by a doctor, two nurses and a respiratory therapist. Based on the results of laboratory tests and chest x-rays, the emergency room doctor diagnosed right upper lobe pneumonia and provisionally diagnosed right upper lobe cancer. After discussing his diagnosis with the couple, the doctor arranged for Mrs. Spradlin's transfer by ambulance to a public hospital about forty-five minutes away.
Mrs. Spradlin suffered cardiac arrest in the public hospital that night and died early the next morning. The autopsy report states the probable cause of death as pseudomonas pneumonitis.
Plaintiffs, Mrs. Spradlin's survival and wrongful death beneficiaries, filed this action, naming the private hospital as the sole defendant and alleging patient "dumping" in violation of both EMTALA, 42 U.S.C. §1395dd, and La. Rev. Stat. 40:2113.4. Defendant lodged a dilatory exception of prematurity, claiming that it was a qualified health care provider and that the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act required the entirety of plaintiffs' claims to be submitted first to a medical review panel. The district court overruled the exception without assigning reasons.
On defendant's application, the court of appeal exercised its supervisory
jurisdiction and addressed the merits of the issue, initially agreeing with the district court. The court of appeal held that " hile the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act offers protections to medical providers whose liability arise from acts of negligence pertaining to the treatment of patients, EMTALA and La. R.S. 40:2113.4, exceptions to La. R.S. 40:1299.41, specifically govern instances in which damages result from the deprivation of emergency services by those ordinarily covered providers on the basis of an individual's lack of means." 97-845, p. 7 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1/21/98), 711 So. 2d 699, 702-03.
On rehearing, however, the court sustained defendant's exception of prematurity in part, holding that plaintiffs' action was premature to the extent they alleged conduct that constitutes a medical malpractice claim.
The court stated:
On [original hearing], we determined that the plaintiff's claims for damages pursuant to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), 42 U.S.C. 1395dd and its Louisiana statutory equivalent, La. R.S. 40:2311 , were not subject to the procedural and substantive limitations imposed by the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act. . . . After reviewing the petition, it appears that the plaintiff has alleged behavior on the part of the defendant which, if proven, would constitute malpractice and which occurred in the treatment of the decedent prior to the transfer and separately from the decision to transfer. Therefore, these claims appear to be unrelated to the EMTALA or "dumping" claim. Therefore, we
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