Eiswert v. United States
Eiswert v. United States
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before the Court on the Sixth Circuit's remand to decide unresolved issues with defendant's Motion to Dismiss, [Doc. 14], and its Supplement, [Doc. 39]. The defendant moved to dismiss *868the case pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). For the reasons that follow, the motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
I. BACKGROUND
To review, Mr. Scott Walter Eiswert was honorably discharged from the military on November 29, 2005. He applied for service-connected disability benefits with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA") in May 2006 for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ("PTSD"). The VA denied the application in September 2006. Mr. Eiswert applied for reconsideration on August 24, 2007, and the VA once again denied his request on February 4, 2008. During this process, Mr. Eiswert was unable to obtain treatment for PTSD. On March 25, 2008, Mr. Eiswert declined the VA's attempts to schedule an appointment with the VA's PTSD Auerback Clinic. Tragically, Mr. Eiswert committed suicide on May 16, 2008. In sum, Mr. Eiswert received no treatment from the VA for PTSD from July 28, 2006, through March 25, 2008.
Mr. Eiswert's wife, Tracy Lynn Eiswert, the plaintiff, continued to pursue the benefits. The VA granted PTSD-related disability benefits on August 13, 2008, retroactive March 28, 2007. The VA increased this amount and the effective date on August 26, 2008, due to error. The VA did so again in April 2009 and May 2010.
On April 20, 2010, Ms. Eiswert filed an administrative claim pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"),
Ms. Eiswert and her children ("plaintiffs") filed the instant action alleging medical malpractice on October 11, 2011. Plaintiffs' counsel attached expert statements from board-certified psychiatrists to the Complaint, [Doc. 1]. These experts opined that within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the VA's failure to recognize and treat Mr. Eiswert's PTSD contributed to his untimely death. One expert stated that the VA's treatment fell below the applicable standard of care. Plaintiffs' counsel also attached the experts' Curriculum Vitae. However, the Certificate of Good Faith as required by Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-122 was not attached.
The defendant then filed a Motion to Dismiss, [Doc. 14], and Supplement, [Doc. 39]. The defendant raised several arguments: that (1) Title 38 United States Code section 511(a) precluded the Court's review of any benefit determination; (2) Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-116(a)(3), the statute of repose, barred the plaintiffs' action; (3) plaintiffs failed to file a certificate of good faith and the action should be dismissed pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-122 ; and (4) plaintiffs failed to properly demonstrate and plead compliance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121 and the action should be dismissed.
The Court granted the defendant's motion because the plaintiffs did not strictly comply with section 122 in filing a Certificate of Good Faith. [Doc. 61]. The Court did not address the section 511(a)
After oral arguments, the Sixth Circuit certified the question of whether section 122 could be satisfied with substantial compliance to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Eiswert v. U.S. ,
The issues before the Court after remand were whether (1) Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-116(a)(3), the statute of repose, bars the plaintiffs' action; (2) plaintiffs failed to file a certificate of good faith and the action should be dismissed pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-122 ; and (3) plaintiffs failed to properly demonstrate and plead compliance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121 and the action should be dismissed. Upon briefing these remanded issues, however, the defendant stated that section "121 is no longer an unresolved issue that needs to be resolved by the Court." As such, the parties agree that there are only two issues this Court needs to address. See [Doc. 84 at 7] (stating plaintiffs' issues for the Court to decide). They are whether the statute of repose,
II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
A Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss an action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction may be premised on a facial attack or a factual attack. See Abdelkhaleq v. Precision Door of Akron , No. 5:07-cv-3585,
Dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) eliminates a pleading or portion thereof that fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Moreover, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires the complaint to contain a "short plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) requires the Court to construe the allegations in the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept all the complaint's factual allegations as true. Meador v. Cabinet for Human Res. ,
III. ANALYSIS
A. 12(b)(1) claim
The defendant moves to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) and argues that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the plaintiffs failed to file their Complaint within Tennessee's three-year statute of repose for health care liability actions.
Here, the parties disagree about the date on which the statute of repose began to run. In Tennessee, the three-year repose period begins from the date of the defendant's last allegedly negligent *871act. See In re Estate of Davis ,
In sum, Mr. Eiswert's last interaction with the VA was on March 25, 2008, and he tragically committed suicide on May 16, 2008. On April 20, 2010, Ms. Eiswert filed an administrative claim with the VA pursuant to the FTCA. The VA denied this claim on reconsideration on April 19, 2011, and informed Ms. Eiswert that she had six months to pursue her claim in federal court. The plaintiffs filed the instant action alleging medical malpractice on October 11, 2011. Again, the defendant argues that the plaintiffs should have filed their action in this Court prior to July 23, 2011. Nonetheless, the defendant argues that, even accepting the plaintiffs' time frame, the plaintiffs failed to file within the statute of repose period. As such, the defendant claims that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.
Two cases in particular are instructive on this issue. In Huddleston v. United States , 485 Fed. App'x 744, 745-46 (6th Cir. 2012), the court stated:
[Tennessee's] statute of repose is a substantive requirement, not just a procedural hurdle. See, e.g., Cronin v. Howe ,906 S.W.2d 910 , 913 (Tenn. 1995) ; Montgomery v. Wyeth ,580 F.3d 455 , 468 n. 7 (6th Cir. 2009). Unlike a statute of limitations, which eliminates the remedy available to plaintiffs, Tennessee's statute of repose extinguishes the cause of action itself.Id. Such substantive limitations apply to suits brought against the United States under the FTCA, which permits liability only where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred. See28 U.S.C. § 2674 ("The United States shall be liable, respecting the provisions of this title relating to tort claims, in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances ...."). Because federal law incorporates state substantive law for the purposes of FTCA claims, applying Tennessee's statute of repose to FTCA plaintiffs does not run afoul of the Supremacy Clause.
Huddleston underwent the colonoscopy in 2006 and filed his complaint in 2010 without claiming fraudulent concealment. Consequently, at the time of his complaint, Tennessee law recognized no cause of action for alleged medical negligence regarding his medical treatment in 2006. The limitations period of § 2401(b) is of no moment because the applicable state law provides no cause of action.
The Sixth Circuit faced a similar issue in Kennedy v. United States , No. 12-3049,
Unlike Ohio's statute of repose, Tennessee's statute would bar the use of the one-year statute of limitations for claims that vest even within the third year in the absence of fraudulent concealment by the defendant. SeeTenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-116 (a)(3). This suggests that Tennessee's statute is harsher than Ohio's statute as the former does more than just limit the time frame for accrual; it extinguishes some claims before the statute of limitations expires despite accrual within the three-year repose period.
This unanswered question is similar to the question at bar. Before reaching the question, however, the Court must first address the defendant's claim that the word "action" as set forth in section 116(a)(3) does not encompass a federal administrative claim. Section 116(a)(3) states:
(3) In no event shall any such action be brought more than three (3) years after the date on which the negligent act or omission occurred except where there is fraudulent concealment on the part of the defendant, in which case the action shall be commenced within one (1) year after discovery that the cause of action exists.
Now, this Court must decide whether the FTCA preempts section 116(a)(3) in the situation at bar. Again, the Huddleston Court left open the question whether a claim properly before the appropriate administrative agency within the statutory repose period is extinguished if it is then filed with the district court in compliance with the FTCA but outside of the statute of repose. Judge White answered the question in a concurring opinion in Kennedy . This Court notes, however, that both of these cases are unpublished and nonbinding on this Court. Similarly, every case *873cited by both the plaintiffs and the defendant are also nonbinding precedents which are factually distinguishable in that the administrative final decision was issued after the repose period, the case dealt with a statute of limitations as opposed to a statute of repose, or the FTCA administrative claim was not filed within the repose period.
Here, the Court is presented with an issue of first impression: Does the FTCA preempt section 116(a)(3) where the federal administrative action was filed with the VA and a final decision rendered within the state statute of repose , but the health care liability action was filed in court after the repose period had run? Specifically, the Court must analyze section 2401(b) of the FTCA. It states:
A tort claim against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun within six months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented.
The preemption doctrine is rooted in the United States Constitution's Supremacy Clause. Maryland v. Louisiana ,
State Farm Bank v. Readon sets forth the preemption principles:
Express preemption exists where either a federal statute or regulation contains explicit language indicating that a specific type of state law is preempted. See Fidelity Federal Sav. and Loan Ass'n v. de la Cuesta,458 U.S. 141 , 153,102 S.Ct. 3014 ,73 L.Ed.2d 664 . Implied preemption has been subdivided into "field preemption" and "conflict preemption." Gade v. Nat'l Solid Wastes Mgmt. Ass'n ,505 U.S. 88 , 98,112 S.Ct. 2374 ,120 L.Ed.2d 73 (1992). Field preemption exists "where the scheme of federal regulation is so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it."Id. (internal quotations omitted). Conflict preemption occurs "where compliance with both federal and state regulations *874is a physical impossibility, or where state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress."Id. (internal citations and quotations omitted). Regardless of the type of preemption at issue, this court's duty is to "determine whether state regulation is consistent with the structure and purpose" of applicable federal law.Id.
It is clear that there is no express preemption here. Furthermore, this Court concludes that field preemption does not apply to section 116(a)(3) because in Huddleston the Sixth Circuit stated that statutes of repose "apply to suits brought against the United States under the FTCA" and that "applying Tennessee's statute of repose to FTCA plaintiffs does not run afoul of the Supremacy Clause." 485 Fed. App'x at 745-46. So this Court will analyze the case at bar according to conflict preemption principles. Again, "[c]onflict preemption occurs where compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility, or where state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." Reardon ,
Section 2401(b) states that an FTCA claim is barred unless action is begun within six months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented. Here, the VA's final denial was on April 19, 2011. According to section 2401(b), the plaintiffs had six months from this date to file the action in federal court. The statute of repose deadline set forth in section 116(a)(3) was prior to the conclusion of this six-month period. As such, contrary to the defendant's contention, the entire process was not complete. Accordingly, section 116(a)(3) stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress. This Court finds persuasive the reasoning in Jones and the concurring opinion in Kennedy even though in those cases the administrative agency had not rendered a decision prior to the statute of repose deadline. Still, "Congress intended the administrative process to be the preferred method for resolving tort claims against the federal government and that a plaintiff engaging in that process have six months after the agency denial to evaluate his or her position." Kennedy , 526 Fed. App'x at 458 (emphasis added). "To conclude otherwise would allow agencies to delay notices of denial in order to allow the statute of repose to extinguish a plaintiff's claim. This outcome is not what Congress intended when it enacted § 2401(b)."
For the reasons set forth above, the defendant's motion on this issue is DENIED.
*875B. 12(b)(6) claim
The second issue is whether a plaintiff can substantially comply with Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-122 even though it is undisputed that the plaintiffs failed to file a Certificate of Good Faith. Instead, the plaintiff filed three exhibits: (1) the psychiatric opinion report from William B. Land, M.D.; (2) the economic loss opinion report from Chad L. Staller, J.D., M.B.A., M.A.C.; and (3) the psychiatric opinion report from J. Sidney Alexander, M.D. The plaintiff did not file any exhibits that explicitly certified that plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel had consulted with one or more experts who provided a written statement confirming that he or she is competent under section 29-26-115 and that there is a good faith basis to maintain the action consistent with the requirements of section 29-26-115. Furthermore, no exhibit stated or certified whether the plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel have been found in violation of section 29-26-122 on any previous occasion.
As stated above, on this FTCA claim the Court must apply Tennessee substantive law. The Tennessee Supreme Court held in Myers v. AMISUB (SFH), Inc. ,
Again, it is not disputed that the plaintiffs failed to file such a certificate, and there are no allegations of extraordinary cause.
Section 122 states in part:
(a) In any medical malpractice action in which expert testimony is required by § 29-26-115, the plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel shall file a certificate of good faith with the complaint. If the certificate is not filed with the complaint, the complaint shall be dismissed, as provided in subsection (c), absent a showing that the failure was due to the failure of the provider to timely provide copies of the claimant's records requested as provided in § 29-26-121 or demonstrated extraordinary cause. The certificate of good faith shall state that:
*876(1) The plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel has consulted with one (1) or more experts who have provided a signed written statement confirming that upon information and belief they:
(A) Are competent under § 29-26-115 to express an opinion or opinions in the case; and
(B) Believe, based on the information available from the medical records concerning the care and treatment of the plaintiff for the incident or incidents at issue, that there is a good faith basis to maintain the action consistent with the requirements of § 29-26-115; or
(2) The plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel has consulted with one (1) or more experts who have provided a signed written statement confirming that upon information and belief they:
(A) Are competent under § 29-26-115 to express an opinion or opinions in the case; and
(B) Believe, based on the information available from the medical records reviewed concerning the care and treatment of the plaintiff for the incident or incidents at issue and, as appropriate, information from the plaintiff or others with knowledge of the incident or incidents at issue, that there are facts material to the resolution of the case that cannot be reasonably ascertained from the medical records or information reasonably available to the plaintiff or plaintiffs counsel; and that, despite the absence of this information, there is a good faith basis for maintaining the action as to each defendant consistent with the requirements of § 29-26-115. Refusal of the defendant to release the medical records in a timely fashion or where it is impossible for the plaintiff to obtain the medical records shall waive the requirement that the expert review the medical record prior to expert certification.
....
(c) The failure of a plaintiff to file a certificate of good faith in compliance with this section shall, upon motion, make the action subject to dismissal with prejudice. The failure of a defendant to file a certificate of good faith in compliance with this section alleging the fault of a non-party shall, upon motion, make such allegations subject to being stricken with prejudice unless the plaintiff consents to waive compliance with this section. If the allegations are stricken, no defendant, except for a defendant who complied with this section, can assert, and neither shall the judge nor jury consider, the fault, if any, of those identified by the allegations. The court may, upon motion, grant an extension within which to file a certificate of good faith if the court determines that a health care provider who has medical records relevant to the issues in the case has failed to timely produce medical records upon timely request, or for other good cause shown.
(d) (1) Subject only to subdivision (d)(2), the written statement of an expert relied upon in executing the certificate of good faith is not discoverable in the course of litigation.
(2) If a party in a medical malpractice action subject to this section prevails on the basis of the failure of an opposing party to offer any competent expert testimony as required by § 29-26-115, the court may, upon motion, compel the opposing party or party's counsel to provide to the court a copy of each such expert's signed written statement relied upon in executing the certificate of good faith. The medical experts may be compelled to provide testimony under oath, as determined by the court, for the purposes of determining that party's compliance with subsection (a) or (b).
(3) If the court, after hearing, determines that this section has been violated, *877the court shall award appropriate sanctions against the attorney if the attorney was a signatory to the action and against the party if the party was proceeding pro se. The sanctions may include, but are not limited to, payment of some or all of the attorney's fees and costs incurred by a party in defending or responding to a claim or defense supported by the non-complying certificate of good faith. If the signatory was an attorney, the court shall forward the order to the board of professional responsibility for appropriate action. Upon proof that a party or party's counsel has filed a certificate of good faith in violation of this section in three (3) or more cases in any court of record in this state, the court shall, upon motion, require the party or party's counsel to post a bond in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per adverse party in any future medical malpractice case to secure payment of sanctions for any violation of this section in such case.
(4) A certificate of good faith shall disclose the number of prior violations of this section by the executing party.
(5) The administrative office of the courts shall develop a certificate of good faith form to effectuate the purposes of this section.6
On remand, the Sixth Circuit directed the Court to several cases to determine whether the statute allows substantial compliance. See Davis ex rel. Davis v. Ibach ,
Instead, the Court will decide the case based on Myers and the plain language of the statute, and they both require dismissal with prejudice when a plaintiff fails to file a certificate of good faith.
The Court once again states its dissatisfaction with this outcome. "But the Court must follow the dictates of the law; and 'it is the Tennessee legislature, and not this Court, that drafts the law of the state.' " Barnwell ,
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, the defendant's motion is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART. As such, the plaintiffs' case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
All statutes referred to in this opinion are to the 2011 versions, the time when the case was originally filed, unless otherwise noted.
The Court did not address the section 511(a) argument because plaintiffs claimed "that they did not raise such a claim." [Doc. 61]. As such, the Sixth Circuit did not address the issue either.
On appeal, the plaintiffs raised another issue, i.e. whether the Court should have allowed the plaintiffs to amend the complaint because Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 conflicts with Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-122. The plaintiffs do not contend the Court needs to address this issue on remand. Furthermore, on appeal, for what appears to be the first time, the plaintiffs argue that Rules 8 and 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure also preempt state law. However, this Court will not address this issue because the plaintiffs do not raise it on remand. The Court notes decisions by two courts that addressed the Rule 8 issue with favor. See Johnson v. United States , No. 2:16-cv-2126,
"[T]he Tennessee Civil Justice Act of 2011 amended the existing Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act by removing all references to 'medical malpractice' from the Tennessee Code and replacing them with 'health care liability' or 'health care liability action' as applicable." Ellithorpe v. Weismark ,
This Court notes that the plaintiffs also moved to amend the Complaint to add the certificate. The magistrate judge denied this request, [Doc. 55]. The plaintiffs objected to this Order, [Doc. 56]. However, this Court did not find the magistrate judge's Order to be clearly erroneous or contrary to law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a) ; see also
See § 8:282.10.Certificate of good faith-Medical malpractice case-Plaintiff's form, 5 Tenn. Prac., Civil Procedure Forms § 8:282.10 for a copy of the form.
The statute contemplates expert reports, which is exactly what was filed in this case, in subsection (d). So it is clear the legislature considers those as separate documents. The Court understands the plaintiffs' argument that the report provides more information than the certificate in terms of the substance of the health care liability claim; however, the documents serve different purposes. Although good faith can be inferred from an expert report, a report typically is not certified by the plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel, it usually does not certify competency under section 29-26-115 (despite some of this information being included to infer such a conclusion), and it does not certify the number of prior violations of the statute by the plaintiffs or plaintiffs' counsel. Thus, the need for an actual certificate. Without such a certificate, the majority of subsection (d) would be moot which is further evidence that the legislature did not intend satisfaction of section 122 by substantial compliance by filing an expert report.
The Court need not reach whether the plaintiffs in fact substantially complied. The Court will note, however, that Dr. Alexander's report and CV do not address the locality rule, which is a requirement under section 115.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Tracy Lynn Reece EISWERT, etc. v. United States
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published