Opinion ID: 1894271
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: First Healthcare Corp. v. Hamilton

Text: On the other hand, in Hamilton, the Fourth District recognized the Spilman decision, but held in direct conflict with Spilman, that the personal representative of a deceased nursing home resident ... may not recover damages for a decedent's pain and suffering arising from the same injuries causing death. Hamilton, 740 So.2d at 1195. The Fourth District's rationale was based on its recognition that wrongful death actions did not exist at common law and therefore all claims for wrongful death are created and limited by Florida's Wrongful Death Act. Id. The Fourth District then gave four reasons that it disagreed with the Fifth District's Spilman decision. First, the court disagreed with the Fifth District's reliance on legislative committee reports because a long line of Florida case law holds that the legislative history of a statute is irrelevant where the wording of a statute is clear. Id. at 1195-96. Second, the court noted that there was no language in the amendment to the statute that stated specifically and explicitly that the statute was intended to change the common law and allow the personal representative of a deceased nursing facility resident to recover damages for the resident's pain and suffering from injuries causing the resident's death. Id. at 1196. Third, the Fourth District observed that the Spilman holding would clearly conflict with the Wrongful Death Act, which was enacted to eliminate pain and suffering damages and would allow multiple actions and multiple claims for pain and suffering contrary to clear legislative intent of the Wrongful Death Act. Id. Fourth, the court disagreed with the contention that limiting damages to those under the Wrongful Death Act would make it cheaper for the nursing home to kill its residents because the damages would be less. See id. The Hamilton court failed to address the language in section 400.023(1) that indicated that the statutory cause of action was cumulative with and in addition to other remedies.