## Facts

- Nichelle Denise Adams, age 22, experienced abdominal pain while pregnant; her mother became concerned when Nichelle went to bed unusually early.
- Dr. Linus Ohaebosim, D.O., had long served as the family physician, maintained a file on Nichelle, but had not treated her for several years.
- Nichelle’s mother telephoned Dr. Ohaebosim about Nichelle’s pregnancy and abdominal pain; he did not ask substantial questions and did not direct immediate emergency evaluation.
- Hours later, Nichelle was taken to the hospital emergency room, where clinicians diagnosed a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
- Nichelle suffered catastrophic injury, was placed on life support, and died after life support was withdrawn with the family’s consent.
- Nichelle’s parents sued the hospital and Dr. Ohaebosim for personal injury and wrongful death; they settled with the hospital for $170,000.
- The case proceeded to trial against Dr. Ohaebosim; the jury awarded $1,800,000 in nonpecuniary wrongful-death damages.
- The trial court entered no wrongful-death judgment against Dr. Ohaebosim, reasoning the hospital settlement exhausted the statutory cap on nonpecuniary wrongful-death damages.

## Issues

1. Whether K.S.A. 60-1903(a)’s cap on nonpecuniary wrongful-death damages is the measure of damages or a limit on recoverable damages.
2. In a comparative fault case under K.S.A. 60-258a, whether a defendant’s fault percentage is applied to the uncapped jury award or to the statutory cap amount.
3. Whether a plaintiff’s settlement with one alleged tortfeasor equal to or exceeding the cap eliminates the right to a capped wrongful-death judgment against another tortfeasor found liable at trial.
4. Whether a physician–patient relationship (and duty) existed based on the telephone consultation and prior relationship, sufficient to support liability.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court reversed and remanded with directions.
- The court held the wrongful-death cap is a limit on recovery, not the measure of the loss found by the factfinder.
- The court held comparative fault is applied to the jury’s uncapped nonpecuniary award, not to the statutory maximum.
- If the amount attributable to the defendant exceeds the statutory cap, the court must enter judgment against that defendant for the capped maximum.
- A settlement with another defendant does not affect the plaintiff’s right to obtain the capped judgment against a remaining liable defendant.
- On cross-appeal, the court rejected the argument that no duty existed; it treated the consulting physician as owing a duty to the patient under the circumstances.

## Legal Principles

- K.S.A. 60-1903(a) sets a ceiling on recoverable nonpecuniary wrongful-death damages; it does not define the amount of damages sustained.
- Under K.S.A. 60-258a, the defendant’s percentage of fault is applied to the jury’s uncapped nonpecuniary award; the cap is applied afterward to limit the judgment.
- When a defendant’s allocated nonpecuniary wrongful-death damages exceed the statutory maximum, judgment must be entered in the maximum amount permitted by the cap.
- A settlement with a potentially proportionally liable party does not bar entry of a capped wrongful-death judgment against another defendant whose liability is established at trial.
- A physician may owe a duty of care based on consultative or telephonic involvement, even where prior direct treatment of the patient had lapsed, if the circumstances show a sufficient physician–patient relationship for negligence liability.

## Conclusion

The court required entry of a capped nonpecuniary wrongful-death judgment against the remaining liable physician, clarifying that Kansas’s wrongful-death cap limits recovery (not the damage measure), that comparative fault applies to the uncapped award before the cap is imposed, and that a prior settlement does not eliminate the right to a capped judgment against another tortfeasor; it also upheld the existence of a duty arising from the physician’s consultation.


Adams v. Via Christi Reg'l Med. Ctr., 270 Kan. 824, 19 P.3d 132 (Kan. 2001)