Special Statute Under Consideration Is Health and Safety Code § 1317.6.
Health and Safety Code section 1317.6(j) provides that, in a civil action, any person who suffers personal harm as a result of certain emergency room service violations by a transferring or receiving hospital may recover reasonable attorney’s fees.
In Camargo v. John F. Kennedy Mem. Hospital, Case Nos. G049518/G049519 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Aug. 20, 2014) (unpublished), plaintiffs (surviving family of a man who died as the result of a flesh-eating bacteria after getting treatment at two hospitals) won a jury verdict for both economic and noneconomic damages against both hospitals, although post-trial motions helped one of the hospitals. Plaintiffs also sought fees under section 1317.6(j), with the trial court reserving the consideration of a fee request under this provision.
The lower court denied the fee request, which was upheld on appeal. The flaw was that Plaintiffs’ counsel never submitted the section 1317 violation issue to the jury, with plaintiffs’ counsel admitting the error. The findings on other matters were not sufficient to “tee up” the section 1317 issue. So, the moral of this one is to make sure your special verdict form or juror interrogatories ask the trier of fact to make predicate findings that will then allow the trial court to consider a subsequent fee request.
Justice Fybel authored the unpublished decision on behalf of a 3-0 panel.
Late diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis as a cause of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome: A case report. Cases Journal 2008, 1:125. doi:10.1186/1757-1626-1-125. Author: Piotr Smuszkiewicz, Iwona Trojanowska and Hanna Tomczak. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.