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Hanks v. Seale6/17/2005
an interest in a judicial determination of whether the defendant physician was a qualified health care provider under the MMA. Bennett, 01-0209 at p. 6, 798 So.2d at 944. Accordingly, citing La. C.C.P. arts 1091, 2083, and 2086, we held that the Board could have intervened in the trial court and, consequently, had a right to appeal the judgment granting the exception of prematurity when the issue involved the status of the defendant physician. The Bennett holding is clearly inapplicable in this case, however, since there is no dispute that the defendant physicians are qualified health care providers under the MMA. Moreover, we decline to extend the analysis used in Bennett to somehow afford the Fund an implied right to appeal the judgment of liability in this case.
Following the Bennett decision, the Act was amended to specifically allow the Fund to " ntervene as a matter of right, at its discretion, in any civil action or proceeding in which the constitutionality of this Part . . . or any other Louisiana law related to medical malpractice . . . is challenged." La. R.S. 40:1299.44(D)(2)(b)(xii). Thus, while the legislature has seen fit to give the Fund the specific right to intervene in any action in which the constitutionality of a law related to medical malpractice is at issue, it has not chosen to expressly allow the Fund to intervene and appeal a district court's judgment of liability.
The MMA is special legislation in derogation of the rights of tort victims and it must be strictly construed against limiting the victim's rights against the tortfeasor. Ginn v. Woman's Hosp. Found., Inc., 02-1913, p. 10 (La. 4/9/03), 842 So.2d 338, 344; Spradlin v. Acadia-St. Landry Med. Found., 98-1977, p. 6 (La.2/29/00), 758 So.2d 116, 120; Branch v. Willis-Knighton Med. Ctr., 92-3086, p. 14 (La.4/28/94), 636 So.2d 211, 217. In light of this basic principle, we cannot interpret the statute to impliedly give the Fund the authority to appeal the issue of liability in the case sub judice. To do so would essentially make the Fund a party to the suit, which is contrary to our repeated pronouncement that the Fund is not a party defendant in medical malpractice suits between a claimant and a health care provider, and give it a greater interest than we have previously recognized is proper.
As previously explained, the Fund's interest lies in the issue of the amount of damages. Thus, once judgment in excess of $100,000 is rendered following a trial on the merits, the Fund has an interest for the purpose of appealing the excess judgment against the Fund and may intervene to appeal that issue. La. C.C.P. arts. 1091 and 2086. See also Felix, 477 So.2d at 681. When the qualified health care providers each chose not to appeal and satisfied the judgment against them, the judgment of liability became final. Nothing in the MMA gives the Fund the right to appeal this portion of the judgment. While the Fund may intervene and appeal the issue of excess damages, it may not appeal the issue of the health care providers' liability. Accordingly, although we disagree with the reasoning it employed, we find the court of appeal was correct in holding that the Fund is precluded from contesting liability.
In its final assignment of error, the Fund argues the court of appeal erred in affirming the jury's award of future medical expenses to plaintiff because no medical evidence as to the nature, extent, and amount of such future expenses is contained in the record. In 1984, the legislature added provisions to the MMA that afforded malpractice victims recovery for future medical care and related benefits. Kelty v. Brumfield, 93-1142, p. 10 (La. 2/25/94), 633 So.2d 1210, 1216. The goal of this legislation was to pro
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