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Estate of Betty Jean Shinholster v. Annapolis Hospital7/30/2004
view § 6304 as allowing defendants to speculate about, or to engage in generalized investigations concerning, a plaintiff's lifestyle, exercise habits, or diet.
IV. CONCLUSION
Here, there was one indivisible injury, Shinholster's fatal stroke, allegedly caused by the separate, independent acts of Shinholster herself and defendants. Had the injury been caused by the separate, independent negligent acts of defendants and another tortfeasor, the liability of each would be determined by the fault attributable to each. See Townsend, supra at 279. Under § 6304, the principle is the same where evidence exists that the negligence of Shinholster herself was a proximate cause of her fatal stroke and subsequent damages. Further, because the jury in this case has already determined that defendants breached their standard of care, a determination that I note defendants have not appealed, I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this case for calculation of damages only.
Stephen J. Markman
CORRIGAN, C.J. (concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Although I agree with the majority that the non-economic damages cap found in MCL 600.1483 applies to wrongful death actions alleging malpractice and that a jury is permitted in all "personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death" tort actions to consider a plaintiff's pretreatment negligence as comparative negligence to offset a defendant's fault (provided evidence has been admitted that would allow a reasonable person to conclude such negligence was "a proximate cause" of the plaintiff's injury), I cannot join the majority's treatment of the remaining issues and respectfully dissent.
First, because defendants were precluded from submitting evidence that arguably would have allowed a reasonable person to find that Betty Shinholster's pretreatment negligence of failing to regularly take her prescribed blood pressure medication during the year preceding her fatal stroke was a proximate cause of her fatal stroke, I would reverse and remand for a new trial on all issues, rather than a trial on damages only.
I would further hold that the higher damages cap found in MCL 600.1483 does not apply to wrongful death actions alleging medical malpractice. MCL 600.1483(1) provides that the lower cap applies unless one of the enumerated exceptions applies. Death is not an enumerated exception. This Court is not free to question the Legislature's policy choices; rather, the statutory language must be applied as written.
Finally, I would hold that the jury's award of future damages should have been reduced to present value pursuant to MCL 600.6306. MCL 600.6311 provides that the reduction to present value does not apply to "a plaintiff who is 60 years of age or older at the time of judgment." I believe that MCL 600.6311 cannot apply in wrongful death cases because, in such cases, the true "plaintiff" is the estate, which is not a person and does not have an "age."
I. ANALYSIS
A. A NEW TRIAL ON ALL ISSUES IS REQUIRED
Although I agree with the majority that decedent's pretreatment negligence is a matter properly submitted to the jury, I do not agree that the new trial should be limited to damages only. Because of the trial court's ruling that all decedent's pretreatment negligence could not be considered, defendants were limited to submitting evidence that decedent was comparatively negligent from April 7 onward, when she first visited the emergency room. Yet, it is apparent from that testimony that had a wider scope of questioning been allowed, just as defendants' expert testimony supported the proposition that her failure for
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