Thomas Hurney Wins Argument for Hospital on Appeal

IADC member Thomas J. Hurney, Jr., argued the appeal for the defendant hospital in MacDonald v. City Hospital, released June 22, 2011, where the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that the caps on non economic damages contained in the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act are constitutional. The Court rejected plaintiffs’ constitutional challenges to the caps based on right to jury trial, certain remedy, open courts, separation of powers and equal protection, placing “squarely with the majority of jurisdictions in holding that caps on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases are constitutional.” The appellate team for the hospital included Jennifer Mankins, Jackson Kelly PLLC, and Christine S. Vaglienti, Associate Litigation Counsel, West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. In addition, IADC members Mike Farrell and Tamela White of Farrell, White & Legg, Huntington, WV, represented amicus West Virginia Mutual Insurance Company.