Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hospital case brief

Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hospital case brief summary
984 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn. 1999)

SYNOPSIS: Plaintiff appealed from the Circuit Court of Humphreys County (Tennessee), which granted defendants' motion to strike in plaintiff's wrongful death action.

OVERVIEW: Plaintiff was the surviving child of the decedent and was the administratrix of the decedent's estate. Plaintiff, on behalf of the decedent's estate, filed a medical malpractice action against defendants, alleging that defendants' negligence caused the decedent's death. Plaintiff sought damages for loss of consortium and for the decedent's loss of enjoyment of life or hedonic damages.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY:
-Defendants filed a motion to strike and a motion for judgment on the pleadings asserting that Tennessee law did not permit recovery for loss of parental consortium and for hedonic damages.
-The trial court granted the defendants' motion to strike.
-The court granted an appeal to determine whether spousal and parental consortium losses were permissible in wrongful death actions.

HOLDING:
The court found that loss of consortium claims were not limited to personal injury suits and that the pecuniary value of a deceased's life included the element of damages commonly referred to as loss of consortium. Thus, the court reversed the decision of the trial court that granted defendants' motion to strike.

RULES:
-Consortium losses are not to limited to spousal claims but also necessarily encompass a child's loss, whether minor or adult.
-Loss of consortium consists of several elements, encompassing not only tangible services provided by a family member, but also intangible benefits each family member receives from the continued existence of other family members.
-Such benefits include attention, guidance, care, protection, training, companionship, cooperation, affection, love, and in the case of a spouse, sexual relations.

OUTCOME: The court reversed the trial court's grant of defendants' motion to strike, finding that the court erred in finding that loss of consortium claims were limited to personal injury suits. The court found such damages were permissible in wrongful death suits.

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