Virginia High Court Allows Punitive Damages in Wrongful Death Suit Against Physician
- April 17, 2020
The Virginia Supreme Court said April 9 that a punitive damages claim should have gone to the jury in a wrongful death case against a physician who prescribed over 7,000 Percocet pills to a patient.
According to the high court, the jury could reasonably have found that the physician’s conduct rose to the level of “willful and wanton” based on the facts that the prescriptions were written despite the patient’s heightened risk of drug addiction and without monitoring of the patient’s health.
Defendant Dr. Christopher Highfill performed several surgeries on Mary Jo Curtis after she broke her ankle. Following the first surgery, Highfill prescribed Percocet to alleviate Curtis' pain.
Over the next 40 months, Highfill wrote Curtis 144 prescriptions for Percocet, generally prescribing between 40 and 60 five-milligram Percocet pills to Curtis on a weekly basis. Highfill knew that Curtis had an increased risk of developing an addiction to narcotic pain medication due to her history of bipolar disorder and alcohol use, but never attempted to treat her pain with a nonnarcotic medication.
Highfill’s last examination of Curtis was April 23, 2013, but despite the lack of monitoring, Highfill wrote Curtis 52 prescriptions for approximately 2,400 Percocet pills after that date.
After Curtis was found dead of an accidental overdose of oxycodone, alcohol, and other prescription medications, the administrator of her estate sued Highfill for wrongful death and requested punitive damages.
Highfill argued that his negligence was not the proximate cause of Curtis' death and moved to strike the punitive damages claim. The circuit court agreed and granted the motion.
On appeal, the state high court reversed, finding a jury could have concluded that Highfill's actions constituted a "willful and wanton" disregard for Curtis' health and safety; therefore, the punitive damages claim should have been submitted to the jury.
While acknowledging that the evidence presented did not in any way establish that Highfill had "ill will" toward Curtis or that he intended her to suffer any harm, the high court said that finding was not a required element of the willful and wanton conduct underlying a claim for punitive damages.
Curtis v. Highfill, No. 190117 (Va. Apr. 9, 2020).