Devin M. Coffey, An Infant v. VA Birth-Rel. Neurolo ( 2002 )

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Willis, Elder and Annunziata
Argued at Richmond, Virginia
DEVIN MICHAEL COFFEY, AN INFANT,
BY DANIELLE MARIE TRIVETTE COFFEY,
HIS MOTHER AND NEXT FRIEND
OPINION BY
v. Record No. 0529-01-4 JUDGE JERE M. H. WILLIS, JR.
JANUARY 29, 2002
VIRGINIA BIRTH-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL
INJURY COMPENSATION PROGRAM
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
Ann LaCroix Jones (William O. Snead, III;
Gary B. Mims; Mark A. Towery; Snead & Mims,
on briefs), for appellant.
John J. Beall, Jr., Senior Assistant Attorney
General (Randolph A. Beales, Sr., Acting
Attorney General; Richard L. Walton, Jr.,
Senior Assistant Attorney General, on brief),
for appellee.
On appeal from a decision of the Workers' Compensation
Commission denying him benefits under the Birth-Related
Neurological Injury Compensation Act, Code § 38.2-5000, et seq.,
Devin Michael Coffey, an infant, who sues by Danielle Marie
Trivette Coffey, his mother and next friend, contends (1) that
the commission erred in assuming jurisdiction and deciding his
claim without affording him legal counsel; and (2) that the
commission erred in holding that the Birth-Related Neurological
Compensation Program (the Program) had successfully rebutted the
presumption set forth in Code § 38.2-5008(A)(1). We affirm in
part, reverse in part, and remand.
I. BACKGROUND
Danielle Marie Trivette Coffey gave birth to Devin
following a forty-one to forty-two week pregnancy. The
pregnancy was marked by increasing signs of pregnancy induced
hypertension (preeclampsia). The labor involved slow cervical
dilation and increasing signs of preeclampsia in the mother,
including swelling, muscle spasms, and increased blood pressure.
Fetal heart tracings ranging from seventy to one-hundred-eighty
beats per minute and light meconium stained amniotic fluid
indicated a distressed infant. The delivery was complicated by
the child's large size and the mother's small stature. Two
attempted forceps deliveries failed. A fourth-degree episiotomy
was performed. The child was finally delivered after
application of forceps to his head.
At one minute of life, Devin's APGAR score was two out of a
possible ten. He was not breathing. His body was limp. He
made no sounds. He gave no response to stimuli. His color was
blue to pale. He was resuscitated with stimulation and his
airways were suctioned. He received oxygen by mask and
endotracheal tube.
At two minutes of life, Devin's arterial chord blood gases
were critically low. They remained low for almost two hours
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after his birth. He had notable molding of the head with
bruising, edema and abrasions.
For three hours following birth, Devin displayed audible
respiratory grunting with nasal flaring and blueness and
coldness of the extremities. He had difficulty feeding and had
to be fed. He displayed increased oral secretions and a slight
decrease in tone in his right arm.
Devin was discharged on his third day of life, only to be
rushed back to the hospital the same evening for breathing
difficulty with gagging and choking. His color changed to red
and blue, and he had mucus in his nose and throat. He was
examined and discharged. Over the course of the next two
months, he continued to experience difficulty with secretions,
gagging and choking for no apparent reason. He would curl up,
jerk, and then relax.
On March 28, 1993, Devin was seen in the emergency room for
sleeping excessively without waking to eat, not crying, and
generally feeling limp. Four days later, he was rushed to the
emergency room where he demonstrated jerking motions and apnea
spells. At this point, he was diagnosed with a seizure disorder
and infantile spasms, confirmed by EEG testing.
When Devin was four months old, his mother moved with him
to Nebraska, where his care was assumed by staff at Creighton
University Medical Center. His records from that institution
describe seizures ranging from simple staring episodes to full
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flexor spasms with back arching, excessive salivation and
choking.
Devin has undergone numerous tests to determine the cause
of his condition. A workup for sepsis was unremarkable. A
differential diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis suggested by an
early MRI of the brain was ruled out by a follow-up EKG. Long
chain fatty acid and metabolic studies failed to demonstrate
metabolic disorder. Testing of diminished deep tendon reflexes
demonstrated no specific etiology. He displayed no progressive
decline in cognitive function. Perinatal asphyxia could not be
ruled out.
Devin is now seven years old. He is profoundly retarded,
quadriplegic, and cannot speak. His condition renders him
permanently in need of assistance in all activities of daily
living.
II. LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Code § 38.2-5009 directs the commission to enter an award
in favor of an infant determined by it to have sustained a
birth-related neurological injury, see Code § 38.2-5001,
resulting from obstetrical services delivered by a participating
physician or rendered in a participating hospital.
Code § 38.2-5001 defines a claimant under the Act as:
[A]ny person who files a claim . . . for a
birth-related neurological injury to an
infant. Such claims may be filed by any
legal representative on behalf of an injured
infant . . . .
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Thus, a claim may be filed by the infant or on his behalf by his
legal representative. Code § 38.2-5004 sets forth the
requirements for filing a claim under the Act.
On March 1, 2000, Danielle Marie Trivette Coffey filed in
the commission on Devin's behalf a petition setting forth the
information required by Code § 38.2-5004. She did so as his
mother. She is not a licensed attorney-at-law and has no
professional legal training. She noted on the petition that
Devin had "no legal representation." The claim proceeded
through the commission with no legal representation on Devin's
behalf, with Ms. Coffey acting as his next friend. On appeal,
Devin argues (1) that the commission should have appointed legal
counsel to represent him in the prosecution of his claim or a
guardian ad litem to defend his interests, and (2) that by
failing to ensure that he had legal representation in the
prosecution of his claim, the commission denied him due process.
These positions were not asserted before the commission. See
Rule 5A:18. However, Devin contends that the failure to afford
him these rights denied the commission jurisdiction to decide
his claim, a position that can be raised at any time.
A. APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL TO PROSECUTE THE CLAIM
Devin first argues that his disability as an infant
entitled him to the appointment of legal counsel to prosecute
his claim. He cites no authority in support of that contention,
and we have found none. Indeed, express statutory provision and
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longstanding practice in this Commonwealth are to the contrary.
Code § 8.01-8 provides:
Any minor entitled to sue may do so by his
next friend. Either or both parents may sue
on behalf of a minor as his next friend.
This statute contains no provision either requiring or
authorizing the appointment of legal counsel for a minor who
sues by his next friend.
In Womble v. Gunter, 198 Va. 522, 95 S.E.2d 213 (1956), the
Supreme Court said:
Code § 8-87 [now § 8.01-8] authorizes
an infant to sue by his next friend. The
practice in Virginia is for such suits to be
instituted in the name of the infant by one
of the parents or other near relative
without formal appointment. If the suit or
action proceeds without objection, it is a
recognition by the court that the infant is
a party to the proceeding. . . . In numerous
cases we have held that in absence of fraud
an infant is as much bound by a decree or
judgment of a court as is an adult. The law
recognizes no distinction between a decree
against an infant and a decree against an
adult, and, therefore, an infant can impeach
it only upon grounds which would invalidate
it in case of an adult party.
Id. at 530, 95 S.E.2d at 219. The record in this case contains
no evidence of fraud. Rather, it reveals that the commission
investigated and decided Devin's claim fairly and
conscientiously.
The commission's failure to appoint legal counsel to
prosecute Devin's petition did not deny it jurisdiction to
decide his claim.
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B. FAILURE TO APPOINT A GUARDIAN AD LITEM
Devin next argues that the commission should have appointed
a guardian ad litem to defend his interests. Code § 8.01-9(A)
provides, in pertinent part:
A suit wherein a person under disability is
a party defendant shall not be stayed
because of such disability, but the court in
which the suit is pending, or the clerk
thereof, shall appoint a discreet and
competent attorney-at-law as guardian ad
litem to such defendant . . . and it shall
be the duty of the court to see that the
interest of the defendant is so represented
and protected.
The statute specifically provides for the appointment of a
guardian ad litem for an infant party defendant, not for an
infant party plaintiff. The Supreme Court considered this very
question in Cook v. Radford Community Hospital, 260 Va. 443, 536
S.E.2d 906 (2000), and held:
[Code § 8.01-9] is not concerned with the
capacity of a person under a disability to
sue but with the protection of such person
when named as a defendant in a lawsuit. One
who institutes litigation is in a posture
completely different than one against whom
suit is filed. The filing of a lawsuit is
an affirmative act on the part of a
plaintiff and does not carry with it the
need for the type of court-initiated
protection which may exist when a person
with a disability is required to defend
himself . . . .
Id. at 449, 536 S.E.2d at 909.
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Devin relies on our decision in Commonwealth ex. rel. Gray
v. Johnson, 7 Va. App. 614, 376 S.E.2d 787 (1989), wherein we
said:
The child . . . not adequately represented
may not receive his or her day in court, and
the fundamental due process right to be
heard may be a abridged.
* * * * * * *
The strong public policy of this
Commonwealth posits that the paramount
concern where children are concerned are
their best interests. . . . The courts of
the Commonwealth have a long history of
protecting the interests of minor children
and have expressed that careful concern by
ensuring that the rights and interests of
the minors are safeguarded. Code §§ 8.01-9
and 16.1-266 require that guardians ad litem
or counsel be appointed to represent a
child's interests when the child is involved
in court proceedings.
Id. at 623, 376 S.E.2d at 791-92. This statement in Johnson was
dictum. Johnson turned not on whether a guardian ad litem
should have been appointed, but rather on whether a child whose
interests were affected had been made a party to the proceeding.
The quoted passage from Johnson relied upon Moses v. Akers, 203
Va. 130, 122 S.E.2d 864 (1961), and Kanter v. Holland, 154 Va.
120, 152 S.E. 328 (1930). Those cases turned on the failure to
appoint guardians ad litem for infant defendants against whom
judgment had been rendered. Both cases were decided in the
context of former Code § 8-88, which required appointment of a
guardian ad litem for an infant who "is a party." The present
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statute provides only for the appointment of a guardian ad litem
for an infant who "is a party defendant."
The commission's failure to appoint a guardian ad litem to
protect Devin's interests did not deny it jurisdiction to decide
his claim.
C. DUE PROCESS
Devin has identified no failure by the commission to comply
with the requirements of the Act. He notes that his mother and
next friend did not pursue all avenues of discovery that might
have been available and might have been pursued by professional
counsel. However, he has demonstrated no fraud or unfairness
and no failure of the commission to consider his claim fully and
fairly. In short, he has not demonstrated that the proceedings
before the commission failed to comply with the established law
of the Commonwealth or failed to afford him a fair disposition
of his claim. He has demonstrated no denial of due process.
We hold that the commission properly afforded Devin his
procedural rights under the Act and that it had jurisdiction to
decide his claim.
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III. REBUTTAL OF THE CODE § 38.2-5008(A)(1) PRESUMPTION
A. THE PRESUMPTION
The Act 1 provides monetary relief to claimants who have
sustained a "[b]irth-related neurological injury," which is
defined as
injury to the brain or spinal cord of an
infant caused by the deprivation of oxygen
or mechanical injury occurring in the course
of labor, delivery or resuscitation in the
immediate post-delivery period in a hospital
which renders the infant permanently
motorically disabled and (i) developmentally
disabled or (ii) for infants sufficiently
developed to be cognitively evaluated,
cognitively disabled . . . [and which]
disability [causes] the infant to be
permanently in need of assistance in all
activities of daily living.
Code § 38.2-5001. Recognizing the difficulty in proving when
such an injury was sustained, the legislature enacted a
presumption to assist potential claimants in obtaining benefits.
Code § 38.2-5008(A)(1) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
A rebuttable presumption shall arise that
the injury alleged is a birth-related
neurological injury where it has been
demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the
Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission,
that the infant has sustained a brain or
spinal cord injury caused by oxygen
deprivation or mechanical injury, and that
the infant was thereby rendered permanently
motorically disabled . . . .
If either party disagrees with such
presumption, that party shall have the
1
Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act, Code
§ 38.2-5000, et seq.
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burden of proving that the injuries alleged
are not birth-related neurological injuries
within the meaning of the chapter.
This is a "Morgan theory" presumption, which shifts "'both the
burden of production and the burden of persuasion on the factual
issue in question to the party against whom the presumption
operates.'" Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury
Compensation Program v. Young, 34 Va. App. 306, 311, 541 S.E.2d
298, 301 (2001).
Questions regarding the application of this type of
presumption frequently arise concerning claims for benefits
under Code § 65.2-402 of the Workers' Compensation Act. That
code section provides, inter alia, that respiratory diseases
suffered by firefighters, and hypertension or heart diseases
suffered by firefighters and certain law enforcement personnel,
shall be presumed to be occupational
diseases, suffered in the line of duty, that
are covered by [the Workers' Compensation
Act] unless such presumption is overcome by
a preponderance of competent evidence to the
contrary.
Code § 65.2-402(A),(B). Addressing this presumption in the
workers' compensation context, the Supreme Court has held that
an employer seeking to overcome the presumption must
show, by a preponderance of the evidence,
both that 1) the claimant's disease was not
caused by his employment, and 2) there was a
non-work-related cause of the disease. . . .
[I]f the employer does not prove by a
preponderance of the evidence both parts of
this two-part test, the employer has failed
to overcome the statutory presumption.
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Bass v. City of Richmond Police Dep't, 258 Va. 103, 114, 515
S.E.2d 557, 562-63 (1999). Evidence that a claimant's disease
was not caused by his employment, suggesting by inference that
the disease must, therefore, have had a non-work-related cause,
is insufficient to prove the second prong of the test.
The obvious purpose of the rebuttable
presumption is to establish by law, in the
absence of evidence, a causal connection
between death or disability from certain
diseases and the occupation of a
firefighter. The effect of the presumption
is to eliminate the necessity for proof by
the claimant of causal connection. . . . In
the absence of evidence, the statutory
presumption prevails and controls. The
presumption shifts the burden of going
forward with the evidence from the claimant
to his employer.
Even if the negative finding . . . of
no evidence of causal connection is equated
arguendo with an affirmative finding that
there was no causal connection, the rebuttal
evidence is still insufficient. We hold
that to rebut the statutory presumption the
employer must adduce competent medical
evidence of a non-work-related cause of the
disabling disease, and there is no such
evidence in the record before us.
Page v. City of Richmond, 218 Va. 844, 847-48, 241 S.E.2d 775,
777 (1978). See also Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Services v.
Newman, 222 Va. 535, 538-39, 281 S.E.2d 897, 899-900 (1981).
The employer must identify one or more specific non-work-related
causes of the subject injury.
The Code § 38.2-5008(A)(1) presumption is stated in
essentially the same terms as the Code § 65.2-402(A), (B)
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presumption. It serves the same purpose, to provide a claimant
a vehicle for recovery upon a prima facie showing of condition,
casting upon the party resisting recovery the burden of proving
non-entitlement. Therefore, we will apply with respect to the
Code § 38.2-5008(A)(1) presumption the test adopted by the
Supreme Court for application of the Code § 65.2-402(A), (B)
presumption. Thus, we hold that to defeat the Code
§ 38.2-5008(A)(1) presumption, the Program must prove, to a
reasonable degree of medical certainty, see Augusta County
Sheriff's Dep't v. Overbey, 254 Va. 522, 527, 492 S.E.2d 631,
634 (1997), both (1) that the claimant's brain or spinal cord
injury did not occur "in the course of labor, delivery or
resuscitation in the immediate post-delivery period in a
hospital" and (2) that there was a specific, non-birth-related
cause of the injury.
The Program concedes that the Code § 38.2-5008(A)(1)
presumption applies in this case. Thus, to avoid liability, the
Program bore the burden of proving by the preponderance of the
evidence, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, both (1)
that Devin's brain or spinal cord injury did not occur "in the
course of labor, delivery or resuscitation in the immediate
post-delivery period in a hospital" and (2) that a specific,
non-birth-related cause produced the injury.
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B. THE EVIDENCE
The medical evidence consists of the opinions of Dr. Duncan
C. MacIvor, an obstetrician; Dr. Lawrence D. Morton, a pediatric
neurologist; and a panel of three obstetricians specializing in
high risk obstetrics, Dr. James E. Ferguson, Dr. Giancarlo Mari,
and Dr. William N.P. Herbert, appointed pursuant to Code
§ 38.2-5008(B).
Dr. MacIvor concluded as follows:
Devin's delivery was technically difficult
with evidence of transient deprivation of
oxygen. His later neurological development,
however, seems more consistent with
unrelated degenerative neurological disease,
and it is noteworthy that several pediatric
neurologists . . . who have followed Devin
for extended periods have been aware of his
difficult birth yet have never inferred a
causal relationship to his present
condition.
* * * * * * *
All his neurologists have seemed well
acquainted with his history. Although there
is occasional confusion in the later records
over details of his perinatal history, none
of the neurologists has made any connection
between Devin's difficult delivery and his
current status. His seizure disorder has
been attributed to infantile spasms,
possible tuberous sclerosis, and to rare and
subtle metabolic derangements. None of
these has ever been proven, and the records
often state that the etiology of his problem
is simply unknown. Conspicuously absent in
the neonatal and neurologic records are
references to intracranical hemorrhage or
hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy such as
would be expected if the neurologic deficits
were due to obstetric mechanical injury or
significant deprivation of oxygen. A baby
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that was injured at birth should not have
had a several week interval of apparently
normal function and development only to
deteriorate later, and the initial findings
in the newborn nursery should have been more
striking.
It is understandably tempting for concerned
lay people . . . who experienced and
witnessed Devin's difficult delivery, to
link his birth with his current status. In
my own opinion, the two simply do not fit
together. It might be useful to have these
records reviewed by an independent pediatric
neurologist -- specifically addressing the
question whether either birth trauma or
oxygen deprivation could possibly have
produced the picture that developed in
Devin's early infancy. My own feeling is
that no link exists, despite the clearly
difficult delivery and undeniable (though
brief) deprivation of oxygen, and that
unfortunately, Devin does not qualify for
the Program.
Dr. Morton reported his review of Devin's birth and medical
records and concluded as follows:
In summary, while there was some evidence of
the infant being depressed and some degree
of hypoxia with depressed one minute APGARs,
this was not sustained. The chart
information provided does not exclude the
possibility of this being causal in the
child's development, but certainly does not
allow me to say this is the most likely
cause and in fact, another underlying
process is suggested by some of the notes in
the chart. The seeming prosperity early
goes against a marked injury occurring at
the time of birth.
Drs. Ferguson, Mari and Herbert reported as follows:
In carefully reviewing the clinical case
involving this child in light of the
Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury
Compensation Act, it is our opinion that the
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criteria for "birth-related neurological
injury" are not met by the evidence
presented in this case.
. . . [D]espite the difficult vaginal
delivery, young Devin's prompt response to
resuscitation and his early neonatal course
are inconsistent with birth-related
neurological injury.
[O]nly a small percentage of babies with
cerebral palsy have [sic] as its origin
events during the labor and delivery
process. The majority have been thought to
occur either early in the ante-natal or
neonatal periods, and we feel that this
young child's tragic situation falls into
one of these other categories.
The deputy commissioner found that the foregoing evidence
was credible and constituted a preponderance. The full
commission agreed.
[W]hether the Program rebutted the
presumption is a question to be determined
by the commission as fact finder after
weighing the evidence produced by both
parties. . . . "On appeal from this
determination, the reviewing court must
assess whether there is credible evidence to
support the commission's award."
Young, 34 Va. App. at 317, 541 S.E.2d at 304 (quoting Bass, 258
Va. at 114, 515 S.E.2d at 563).
Applying the two-part test we adopt for use in determining
whether the Program has rebutted the Code § 38.2-5008(A)(1)
presumption, we hold as a matter of law that the Program's
evidence, though credible and preponderating, fails to rebut the
presumption.
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1. WHETHER THE INJURY OCCURRED IN THE COURSE OF LABOR,
DELIVERY OR RESUSCITATION, ETC.
No physician concluded, to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty, that Devin's injuries did not occur at birth.
Dr. MacIvor opined that certain things "should" or "should not
have" occurred had Devin's injuries been birth-related. He
noted that several pediatric neurologists who had treated Devin
and were aware of his difficult birth "[had] never inferred a
causal relationship to his present condition." He stated his
own "feeling" "that no link exists." None of these opinions was
stated to a reasonable degree of medical certainty. Dr. MacIvor
suggested reservation by concluding that "[i]t might be useful
to have these records reviewed by an independent pediatric
neurologist" regarding "whether either birth trauma or oxygen
deprivation could possibly have produced" Devin's injuries.
The pediatric neurologist, Dr. Morton, reported that
Devin's "seeming prosperity early goes against a marked injury
occurring at the time of birth" and that the evidence did not
allow him to say that the circumstances surrounding Devin's
birth were the most likely cause of Devin's injuries, but he
could not exclude the possibility that Devin's birth trauma was
"causal in the child's development."
Finally, although the three-physician panel concluded that
Devin's "prompt response to resuscitation and his early neonatal
course are inconsistent with birth-related neurological injury,"
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it did not state this opinion to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty. The panel's statement that it "feel[s] [Devin's]
tragic situation" is not birth-related because "only a small
percentage of babies with cerebral palsy have [sic] as its
origin events during the labor and delivery process" and that
"[t]he majority [of such injurious events] [are] thought to
occur early in the ante-natal or neonatal periods" reinforces
the conclusion that its opinion regarding "inconsisten[cy]" was
not a finding, stated to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty, that Devin's condition is not birth-related.
2. WAS THERE A SPECIFIC, NON-BIRTH-RELATED
CAUSE OF THE INJURY
Assuming arguendo that the evidence supports a finding that
Devin's injuries did not occur at birth, it fails to prove, to a
reasonable degree of medical certainty, a specific,
non-birth-related cause. Thus, it fails to rebut the Code
§ 38.2-5008(A)(1) presumption. Dr. MacIvor identified no
non-birth-related cause of Devin's condition. He stated that
Devin's "later neurological development . . . seems more
consistent with unrelated degenerative neurological disease,"
but he did not state this opinion to a reasonable degree of
medical certainty, and he noted that Devin had received numerous
possible diagnoses, "[n]one of [which] has ever been proven."
Dr. Morton did not identify, to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty, a non-birth-related cause of Devin's condition. He
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stated that "another underlying process [rather than a
birth-related injury,] is suggested by some of the notes in the
chart," but he did not identify that "underlying process" and
did not opine to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that
it was a non-birth-related cause of Devin's condition. Finally,
the three-doctor panel gave no opinion regarding the specific
cause of Devin's condition. It stated only that it "[felt]"
Devin's condition originated "either early in the ante-natal or
neonatal periods." It did not state this opinion to a
reasonable degree of medical certainty.
The evidence failed, as a matter of law, to support the
commission's holding that the Program had rebutted the Code
§ 38.2-5008(A)(1) presumption. Thus, the presumption carried
Devin's burden of proof, and he is entitled to an award of
benefits under the Act. We reverse and remand this case to the
commission for entry of an appropriate award.
Affirmed in part,
reversed in part,
and remanded.
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