January 06, 2016

Minors Now Have an Independent Right to Recover Medical Expenses

For many years prior to 2008, Pennsylvania has repeatedly refused to grant an independent right to minors for the recovery of medical expenses prior to the age of majority (18 years of age). The reasoning behind this antiquated rule was expressed in Bowmaster ex rel. Bowmaster v. Clair, a 2007 Superior Court case. The court reasoned that children were their father's property because fathers were solely responsible for their children until they reached the age of majority. This common law rule was motivated by the court’s desire to allow the party who actually suffers the damage, through payment obligations, to reap the benefit of recovering the loss from the tortfeasor.

In 2008, the Commonwealth Court in Shaffer-Doan v. Commonwealth Dep’t of Pub. Welfare, a 2008 Commonwealth Court case, criticized the common law doctrine expressed in Bowmaster, and applied the language of the Fraud and Abuse Control Act (FACA), holding that a minor child is not prevented from seeking medical expenses so long as the claim is not duplicated by the minor’s parents. Following the criticism in Shaffer, the Supreme Court in E.D.B. v. Clair, a 2009 Supreme Court case, held that pursuant to FACA, a medical beneficiary has a right to recover against a tortfeasor and reimburse the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) for medical benefits received during the minor's infancy. The Shaffer and E.D.B. decisions are important because, for the first time, the courts recognized a statutory right (under FACA) for a cause of action to recover pre-majority medical expenses for a minor without limitation on the amount the minor could recover prior to the age of majority, so long as the parent does not file a duplicate claim for recovery.

Following the Supreme Court’s holding in E.D.B., which approved the Shaffer holding and vacated the holding in Bowmaster, the Superior Court in Czimmer v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a 2015 Superior Court case, held that a minor has an independent right to recover medical expenses incurred prior to turning 18, as longs as the parent does not file a duplicate claim. The court based its decision on the principle that a tortfeasor should be held responsible for the harm it causes.

What It Means to You

Czimmer fundamentally changes the value of future personal injury and medical malpractice cases as minors no longer have to rely on the Fraud and Abuse Control Act to recover medical expenses solely for Department of Public Welfare reimbursement purposes. Now, anytime a minor incurs pre-majority medical expenses due to a tortfeasor’s conduct, they will be entitled to recover those expenses independent and apart from a cause of action sought by their parent, so long as the parent does not seek recovery for the child’s pre-majority medical expenses.