Court rules in medical arbitration case

The Utah Supreme Court has ruled a physician can be sued by the widow of a deceased patient for medical malpractice, despite her husband having signed a medical arbitration agreement just six days before his death.

In a case that was expected to possibly clarify the role of medical arbitration agreements, this week's ruling took a different turn.

Christine Baker claimed she had a right to sue two physicians and Intermountain Health Care for her personal pain and suffering for the loss of her husband, despite the fact that Gary Baker had signed an arbitration agreement which bound his surviving family to its terms as well. At the time, Utah law was not clear if surviving relatives could be held to such agreements. In 2003, the Legislature passed a law that held survivors to those agreements.

Baker, 53, died of a heart attack. Christine Baker's attorney, Craig Snyder, alleged that despite repeated complaints of chest pain, no steps were taken to treat him for heart disease before his fatal heart attack.

Both sides had argued before the Utah Supreme Court last November over whether Christine Baker should be held to her husband's agreement. Baker argued that because family members were not parties to the agreement, they should not be expected to be bound by it. Since, the Legislature has declared that family members can be held to arbitration, but it also declared that physicians cannot refuse treatment to patients who refuse to sign an agreement.

The issue of medical arbitration had been a political hot point in the past few years. In its ruling this week, however, the Supreme Court said it didn't need to tread on such hot territory, due to a strategic blunder made by one of the physicians.

According to the ruling, Dr. Richard Rosenthal's attorney had filed a motion for summary judgment after being sued by Baker. In doing so, Rosenthal waived the agreement he made Baker's husband sign.

"We conclude that Dr. Rosenthal waived his right to arbitrate and, along with it, his ability to compel Christine to arbitrate her claim against him," Justice Jill Parrish wrote in the unanimous decision. Chief Justice Christine Durham had disqualified herself from the case, and Judge Leon Dever sat in her place.

Snyder called the entire case moot, saying between oral arguments last November and the recent decision, Baker had settled her claim with IHC and Dr. Greg Stevens. A lower court had also removed Rosenthal from the claim, leaving the entire case without any contested claims by the time the ruling was issued.

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