Opinion ID: 1867637
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Helen's injury

Text: ¶ 194 This review does not question that Helen suffered catastrophic injuries due to an occurrence of medical malpractice for which she and her husband, Robert, sought compensation for the personal injuries she sustained and for the derivative injuries Robert sustained. Helen lived five years and when she died, Robert sought compensation for her wrongful death. He sued on his own behalf and on behalf of Helen's estate. Robert, individually, and Helen's estate were awarded noneconomic damages of $850,000 for their personal injury claims and Robert was awarded noneconomic damages of an additional $350,000 for his wrongful death claim. ¶ 195 However, Maurin did not require Robert to bring a wrongful death claim, and Maurin does not require that he accept the noneconomic damages awarded for the wrongful death claim, as limited by the cap of Wis. Stat. § 895.04(4). Maurin does not require that Robert reject the recovery permitted for his derivative claims and Helen's claims that the estate holds. ¶ 196 Maurin concerned a child who lived for only two days after an occurrence of medical malpractice. Maurin, 274 Wis.2d 28, ¶¶ 10-12, 682 N.W.2d 866. The Maurin lawsuit, which was brought by her estate and her parents, claimed for personal injury, direct and derivative, and her parents claimed for wrongful death, which is also a derivative claim. Id., ¶ 1, 682 N.W.2d 866. We concluded that the legislative plan set out in ch. 655 required that there be a single global cap on the total recovery of noneconomic damages from the collective group of health care providers that were participants in an occurrence of medical malpractice. Id., ¶¶ 52-82, 682 N.W.2d 866. ¶ 197 The Maurins never sought to retain the noneconomic damages for their personal injury claims and to reject the damages awarded for the wrongful death claims. They sought to stack the limits on the recovery of noneconomic damages from the wrongful death claim on top of the limit on recovery of noneconomic damages for their personal injury claims. [9] Similarly, until oral argument, Robert never addressed whether he could have rejected the noneconomic damages awarded for wrongful death and accepted the noneconomic damages for his and the estate's personal injury claims. He sought to stack both caps on the recovery of noneconomic damages, just as the Maurins had. In my view, the legislature has not prevented Robert, individually, and Helen's estate from choosing whichever cap is best for them. ¶ 198 Although many other states have caps on medical malpractice awards for noneconomic damages, the statutes by which they accomplish this vary. However, Michigan does have a statutory limit on the recovery on noneconomic damages that has two differing caps, which caps encompass noneconomic damages for survivors' actions and for wrongful death. Shinholster v. Annapolis Hosp., 471 Mich. 540, 559-60, 685 N.W.2d 275 (2004). ¶ 199 In Shinholster, Betty Shinholster had experienced a number of ministrokes before having a massive stroke that caused her death. Id. at 547-48, 685 N.W.2d 275. Michigan has a $280,000 cap on the recovery of all noneconomic damages for all claims unless one of several statutory factors applies. MCL 600.1483(1). Those factors describe the types of disabilities that resulted from the malpractice. MCL 600.1483(1)(a)-(c). If any of the factors set out in MCL 600.1483(a)-(c) apply, the limit on the recovery for noneconomic damages is an aggregate of $500,000. Id. at 560, 685 N.W.2d 275. The question before the court was whether that higher limit could be applied in a wrongful death action or whether the injured person had to survive and endure the disability to be able to recover the higher amount. Id. The court, based on its interpretation of Michigan statutes, concluded that the legislature permitted a decedent's estate to recover everything that the decedent would have been able to recover had she lived. Id. at 564, 685 N.W.2d 275 (emphasis in original). Accordingly, it permitted the recovery of noneconomic damages totaling $500,000. Id. ¶ 200 Although Shinholster is based on Michigan statutes, the claims addressed are the same as are presented by Robert, individually, and Helen's estate. They involved claims for Betty's predeath pain and suffering that the estate held and claims for her survivors with derivative claims for wrongful death. The court in Shinholster saw no problem in limiting recovery of all noneconomic damages, for all types of claims that arose out of medical malpractice, to one limit. In a similar manner, I agree with Maurin that the legislature did limit the recovery of noneconomic damages to one statutory cap for an occurrence of medical malpractice. I also conclude that the legislature has not directed which cap is to be selected. Therefore, I would reverse the court of appeals and remand to the circuit court for a hearing on which cap is to be applied, the cap set out in Wis. Stat. § 893.55(4)(d) or the cap set out in Wis. Stat. § 895.04(4). III. CONCLUSION ¶ 201 I conclude that Maurin correctly decided that the legislature created an occurrence-based cap on the recovery of all noneconomic damages that arise from medical malpractice, to which all plaintiffs and all types of claims are subject. However, I also conclude that Maurin does not prevent selecting whichever cap on noneconomic damages the plaintiffs prefer. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from the lead opinion's decision to overrule Maurin, but I concur in the mandate to reverse the court of appeals.