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Chester v. Doig2/6/2003
Rehearing petition filed: 02/21/2003. Rehearing denied: 03/26/2003.
MARY CHESTER, ETC., PETITIONER,
v.
VICTOR DOIG, M.D., RESPONDENT.
Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal - Certified Great Public Importance Fifth District - Case No. 5D99-116
Julie H. Littky-Rubin of Lytal, Reiter, Clark, Fountain & Williams, Llp, West Palm Beach, Florida, for Petitioner
Jennifer S. Carroll and Diane F. Medley of the Law Offices of Jennifer S. Carroll, P.A., Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and James W. Smith of Smith & Schoder, Llp, Daytona Beach, Florida, for Respondent
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Quince, J.
We have for review a decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal on the following question, which the court certified to be of great public importance:
IS IT APPROPRIATE TO SETOFF AGAINST THE NON-ECONOMIC DAMAGES PORTION OF AN AWARD AGAINST ONE TORTFEASOR IN AN ARBITRATION OF A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION THE AMOUNT RECOVERED FROM SETTLEMENT FROM ANOTHER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAME INCIDENT CAUSING THE INJURY ? Doig v. Chester, 776 So. 2d 1043, 1047 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001).
We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we answer the certified question in the negative and quash the Fifth District's decision.
BACKGROUND
Mary Chester (Chester) asserted that her husband died as the result of medical malpractice and blamed both respondent Dr. Doig and Halifax Hospital for his death. Chester settled with Halifax Hospital for $150,000 during presuit proceedings (the settlement award) and then arbitrated with Dr. Doig and recovered $507,321 (the arbitration award). Of the $507,321 recovered from Dr. Doig, $210,321 was designated for economic damages, $250,000 was designated for non-economic damages, and $47,000 was for attorney's fees. The arbitrators found that Dr. Doig was not entitled to a setoff based on the settlement award. Dr. Doig appealed the arbitrators' finding that he was not entitled to a setoff, and on his second motion for rehearing, the Fifth District reversed the arbitration panel with directions to apply a setoff. See Doig, 776 So. 2d 1043. The issue before this Court is whether the arbitration award should be set off (reduced) by the settlement award.
DISCUSSION
The arbitration provisions of Florida's Medical Malpractice Act allow an arbitration panel to determine damages in a medical malpractice claim once presuit investigation has been completed. See §§ 766.207-766.212, Fla. Stat. (1997). The arbitration provisions were enacted to provide " ubstantial incentives for both claimants and defendants to submit their cases to binding arbitration, thus reducing attorneys' fees, litigation costs, and delay." § 766.201(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (1997). In this case, Chester agreed to submit to binding arbitration with Dr. Doig, and under section 766.207(7), the following limitations on damages apply:
(7) Arbitration pursuant to this section shall preclude recourse to any other remedy by the claimant against any participating defendant, and shall be undertaken with the understanding that:
(a) Net economic damages shall be awardable, including, but not limited to, past and future medical expenses and 80 percent of wage loss and loss of earning capacity, offset by any collateral source payments.
(b) Non-economic damages shall be limited to a maximum of $250,000 per incident, and shall be calculated on a percentage basi
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