Underlying Facts
Mishandling Fetal Remains Is Medical Malpractice: On May 17, 2018, Angela and Denny Seth Lester (“the Lesters”) presented to Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a Women and Children’s Hospital (“CAMC”) where Ms. Lester suffered a stillbirth, after the fetus she was carrying died of natural causes. The stillbirth resulted in CAMC’s possession of the fetal remains, which it placed in a morgue on the labor and delivery floor.
The Lesters retained Mounts, a funeral home in Mingo County, West Virginia, to carry out the funeral arrangements and final disposition of the fetal remains. On May 21, 2018, Mr. Lester signed an authorization releasing the remains to Mounts. That same day, Mounts employee Nicole Cline, who had taken the day off work, traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, in her personal vehicle with her husband, Jeff Cline, to accompany him to a medical appointment.
A hospital employee escorted Ms. Cline to a small room where the CAMC employee placed a small package containing the fetal remains in a basket. After Ms. Cline signed paperwork acknowledging her receipt of the remains, the CAMC
employee accompanied Ms. Cline back to her vehicle with the remains. The CAMC employee placed the remains on the back seat of Ms. Cline’s vehicle without the basket. Ms. Cline asked to keep the basket, but the CAMC employee refused, saying that it was hospital property. Fearful that the remains would shift around or be harmed during transport, Ms. Cline instructed her husband to hold the remains in his lap on the drive to the funeral home.
On January 29, 2020, Mr. Cline posted a public video on multiple social media outlets describing the process of loading the fetal remains into the personal vehicle, as well as transporting and embalming the remains. The video wrongfully suggested that Ms. Lester voluntarily terminated her pregnancy. The Lesters viewed the video and became aware of how the fetal remains had been handled and transported.
The Lesters filed a complaint alleging four separate counts of negligence against CAMC: (1) general negligence, (2) negligent infliction of emotional distress, (3) negligent mishandling of a corpse; and (4) negligent supervision. The Lesters claimed that CAMC negligently placed the fetal remains in the back of a personal vehicle filled with groceries and that they suffered “serious emotional distress due to the careless actions of [CAMC] in negligently delivering, transporting[,] and mishandling” the remains. Furthermore, the Lesters contended that CAMC negligently released the fetal remains to be placed in a personal vehicle “without proper equipment, and by allowing unauthorized persons to be involved with the transportation and handling of” the remains. Finally, the Lesters asserted that CAMC negligently supervised its employee who placed the fetal remains in the back seat of Ms. Cline’s personal vehicle.
CAMC filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that it is a health care provider under the MPLA [West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act] and that the Lesters’ claims were related to the rendering of health care services as defined in the MPLA. CAMC contended that the MPLA applied to the Lesters’ claims against it and that the Lesters failed to provide CAMC with the required pre-suit notice, which deprived the circuit court of subject matter jurisdiction to decide the claims against CAMC.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (“West Virginia Supreme Court”) held on June 12, 2023: “CAMC obtained the fetal remains during Ms. Lester’s hospitalization through the administration of health care services to its patient, Ms. Lester. CAMC came into possession of the fetal remains as a direct result of providing health care to Ms. Lester. Furthermore, after CAMC obtained the fetal remains, it continued to act on behalf of Ms. Lester in maintaining the remains in the hospital morgue on the labor and delivery floor and then transferring the remains to the funeral home for final disposition. Therefore, we find that the handling and transfer of the fetal remains was an act or service performed or furnished by a health care provider, CAMC, on behalf of Ms. Lester during her care, treatment, or confinement … we find that the Lesters’ four enumerated counts against CAMC are subject to the MPLA. The amended complaint alleges claims of negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent mishandling of a corpse, and negligent supervision that all arise in the context of the alleged mishandling of the fetal remains as health care services to Ms. Lester. It is of no significance that the Lesters have not explicitly pled a medical professional negligence claim because the Court looks beyond the plaintiff’s labels for the causes of action … we find that the MPLA also applies to any alleged unauthorized disclosure of medical information [“we are compelled to find that if a privacy claim was asserted based upon unauthorized disclosure of medical information through placing the fetal remains in a private vehicle with an unauthorized person, it would be contemporaneous and related to the anchor claim—handling of fetal remains as a result of a stillbirth delivery. Therefore, the MPLA applies to the Lesters’ privacy violation claim as well”].”
The West Virginia Supreme Court held: “Because we find that the Lesters’ claims against CAMC are subject to the MPLA and there was no required pre-suit notice, we must conclude that the circuit court was deprived of subject matter jurisdiction … It is undisputed that the Lesters did not comply with the pre-suit notice requirements. Consequently, the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and should have dismissed the Lesters’ claims.”
If you or your loved one suffered harm as a result of medical malpractice in West Virginia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a West Virginia medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical negligence claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click on the “Contact Us Now” tab to the right, visit our website, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical negligence attorneys in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.