Doe v. City and County of Honolulu3/15/2000
aim may be commenced in any court of this State. . . .
§ 671-16 Subsequent litigation; . . . . The claimant may institute litigation based upon the claim in an appropriate court only after a party to a [MCCP] hearing rejects the decision of the panel, . . . .
§ 671-18 Statute of limitations tolled. The filing of the claim with the [MCCP] shall toll any applicable statute of limitations, and any such statute of limitations shall remain tolled until sixty days after the date the decision of the panel is mailed or delivered to the parties[.]
HRS § 323D-2 (1993) states in relevant part as follows:
"Health care facility" and "health care service" include any program, institution, place, building, or agency, or portion thereof, private or public, other than federal facilities or services, whether organized for profit or not, used, operated, or designed to provide a medical diagnosis, treatment, nursing, rehabilitative, or preventive care to any person or persons.
RELEVANT CASE LAW
The enactment of HRS Chapter 671 was prompted by (1) Hawaii [Hawaii] being affected by " he national crisis in the area of medical malpractice"; (2) only one insurance carrier was "actively providing medical malpractice coverage" in Hawaii [Hawaii]; and (3) the substantial increase in premium rates for medical malpractice insurance. Act 219, §1 1976 Haw. Sess. Laws 523. An avowed purpose was to " tabilize the medical malpractice insurance situation by reintroducing some principles of predictability and spreading of risks." Id. Act 219 not only defined medical torts and provided for informed consent standards to be established by the board of medical examiners, but also set a cap on contingent fees for medical torts, prohibited an "ad damnum" clause in a medical tort complaint, counterclaim, or cross-claim, provided for medical claim conciliation, and established a patients' compensation fund. Keomaka v. Zakaib, 8 Haw. App. 518, 528, 811 P.2d 478, 484, cert. denied, 72 Haw. 618, 841 P.2d 1075 (1991) (citing Act 219 § 1, 1976 Haw. Sess. Laws 523).
" he legislature has declared the submission of the claim to a conciliation panel and the rejection of the panel's decision by a party to the panel hearing are prerequisites to a suit for damages premised on alleged malpractice, see HRS §§ 671-12 and 671-16." Tobosa v. Owens, 69 Haw. 305, 314, 741 P.2d 1280, 1286 (1987).
In Dubin v. Wakuzawa, 89 Hawaii 188, 191, 970 P.2d 496, 499 (1998), Dubin alleged
that Defendant Dr. Wakuzawa improperly revealed confidential and/or false information regarding his medical condition to federal prosecutors and federal law enforcement and probation officers, which was ultimately relied upon by the Honorable Manuel L. Real, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii in the course of Plaintiff's criminal trial and sentencing.
Dubin's complaint against Dr. Wakuzawa and The Queen's Medical Center alleged the following counts: Count I, breach of contract; Count II, breach of fiduciary duty; Count III, breach of patient-physician relationship; Count IV, defamation and perjury; Count V, unfair and deceptive trade practices; Count VI, negligent/intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Hawaii Supreme Court stated in relevant part as follows:
The Higa [v. Mirikitani, 55 Haw. 167, 170, 170, 517 P.2d 1, 4 (1973),] court's endorsement of a single limitations period for all lawsuits alleging a given class of malpractice remains valid today. The principle enunciated in Higa is, however, inapposite to the present matter, in which the question is whether claims of medical malfeasance must, as a precondition
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