No. 28549 (September 29, 2009)
Opinion pdf
OPINION OF THE COURT BY LEONARD, JJ.
I. OVERVIEW
Ross Takehiko Unebasami (Ross) was born on June 16, 1982. In 2000, when he was seventeen years old, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Ross was initially treated with chemotherapy, but after a relapse that began in February of 2003, Ross received a bone marrow transplant at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children (Kapi‘olani) on March 27, 2004. Ross died at another hospital on June 25, 2004, nine days after his twenty-second birthday.
This case stems from allegations that, when Ross suffered renal failure after the bone marrow transplant, he was denied admission to Kapi‘olani's intensive care unit (ICU), a pediatric ICU, and transferred to another hospital's ICU over objections from Ross, his mother, and his treating physicians. The Complaint was filed on April 17, 2006 by Ross's mother, Mary Ann Lee (Lee), as personal representative of the Estate of Ross Takehiko Unebasami, deceased, and in her personal capacity, against Kapi‘olani and Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH), Kapi‘olani's parent corporation. The Complaint alleged, inter alia, that both Ross and his mother suffered serious emotional distress as a result of the defendants' allegedly wrongful conduct. The Complaint also alleged that, when Ross was accepted by Kapi‘olani for his bone marrow transplant, defendants negligently misrepresented to Lee that Ross would be admitted, as necessary, to all of Kapi‘olani's specialized facilities and would be cared for by all of its specialized staff, as necessary, and that Lee reasonably relied upon those representations in choosing Kapi‘olani instead of a mainland bone marrow transplant facility.
The Circuit Court of the First Circuit dismissed the Complaint on the grounds that Kapi‘olani and HPH are health care providers and, therefore, Lee's administrative remedies before the Medical Claims Conciliation Panel (MCCP) must be exhausted, as prescribed under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 671-12(a), before a complaint can be filed in the Circuit Court. Final judgment was entered on February 23, 2007. Lee's claims on behalf of Ross's Estate were subsequently pursued in a separate action, following an MCCP proceeding. Lee's claims on her own behalf are the subject of her appeal in this case.
On March 22, 2007, HPH filed a notice of appeal and, on March 27, 2007, Lee filed a cross-appeal. Then, on April 10, 2007, HPH and Kapi‘olani also filed a cross-appeal.
On appeal, HPH argues that the Circuit Court erred in: (1) finding that HPH is a health care provider as defined in HRS Chapter 671; and (2) denying HPH an award of attorneys' fees based on Lee's frivolous filing of the Complaint. Lee contends that, because she has not asserted a claim as the victim of a medical tort, the Circuit Court erred in concluding that she was required to exhaust the administrative remedies of the MCCP. Kapi‘olani, like HPH, contends that the Circuit Court erred in failing to find that Lee had filed a frivolous lawsuit, and in denying its request for attorneys' fees. We affirm. [footnote omitted]