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Hanks v. Seale6/17/2005
nation that plaintiff is entitled to future medical damages was clearly supported by the record. The court of appeal pointed out that the judgment did not require a lump sum payment of this award, that the Fund will be required to pay plaintiff's future medical costs as they become due, and that all future medical payments should be paid in accordance with the procedures detailed in the MMA.
Upon the Fund's application, we granted certiorari primarily to consider the issue of whether the Fund is entitled to contest the physicians' liability on appeal when the physicians have paid the statutory maximum amount in satisfaction of judgment and have forgone their rights to appeal. Hanks v. Seale, 04-1485 (La. 10/14/04), 883 So.2d 1039.
Law and Discussion
In its first assignment of error, the Fund asserts the court of appeal erred in concluding that a post-judgment payment by a qualified health care provider in satisfaction of the judgment against him "gives rise to the statutory admission of liability provided for in La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5)(a)" such that the Fund is precluded from contesting liability on appeal. Additionally, the Fund asserts that to the extent this court's opinion in Koslowski supports the court of appeal's judgment, it should be overruled.
In 1975, the legislature enacted the MMA, La. R.S. 40:1299.41 et seq., to establish a framework for compensating persons who are injured as a result of medical malpractice committed by qualified health care providers. Bijou v. Alton Ochsner Med. Found., 95-3074, p. 4 (La. 9/5/96), 679 So.2d 893, 896; Russo v. Vasquez, 94-2407, p. 5 (La. 1/17/95), 648 So.2d 879, 882. The Act limits the liability of a single qualified health care provider to $100,000.00 plus interest for all malpractice claims for injuries to or death of a patient. La. R.S. 40:1299.42(B)(2). Any damages awarded or agreed to in excess of $100,000.00 may be recovered from the Fund; however, the total amount recoverable, exclusive of future medical care and related benefits, shall not exceed $500,000.00 plus interest and cost. La. R.S. 40:1299.42(B)(1) and (3).
As an initial matter, we note the Fund spends considerable time arguing that the statutory admission of liability provided by La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5)(e) does not apply in this case. We agree. As it currently exists, La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C)(5)(e) provides:
In approving a settlement or determining the amount, if any, to be paid from the patient's compensation fund, the trier of fact shall consider the liability of the health care provider as admitted and established where the insurer has paid its policy limits of one hundred thousand dollars, or where the self-insured health care provider has paid one hundred thousand dollars. According to the clear language of the Act, the procedure detailed in La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C) applies when "the insurer of a health care provider or a self-insured health care provider has agreed to settle its liability on a claim against its insured and claimant is demanding an amount in excess thereof from the patient's compensation fund for a complete and final release." In the instant case, nothing in the record indicates the existence of an agreement between the health care providers and the plaintiff to settle their liability in exchange for anything. This case simply does not involve a settlement of liability. Rather, it involves a payment in satisfaction of an adverse judgment. Consequently, the provisions of La. R.S. 40:1299.44(C), including subsection (C)(5)(e), do not apply to this case.
In holding that the Fund could not contest the liability of the physicians on appeal, the court of appeal relied upon this court's decision i
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