CHAPTER 671

MEDICAL TORTS

         Part I.  General Provisions

Section

     671-1 Definitions

     671-2 Repealed

     671-3 Informed consent

     671-4 Notice of damages

     671-5 Reporting and reviewing medical tort claims

     671-6 Administration of chapter

     671-7 Professional liability insurance; coverage for

           telehealth

         Part II.  Medical Inquiry and Conciliation

    671-11 Medical inquiry and conciliation panels; composition,

           selection, compensation

  671-11.5 Waiver of filing fee

    671-12 Review by panel required; notice; presentation of

           inquiry; request for a more definite statement of

           the inquiry

  671-12.5 Certificate of consultation

    671-13 Medical inquiry and conciliation panel proceedings;

           voluntary settlement

    671-14 Same; persons attending proceedings of panel

    671-15 Panel termination

  671-15.5 Expungement of records; malpractice insurance rates

    671-16 Subsequent litigation; excluded evidence

  671-16.5 Arbitration; subsequent litigation

  671-16.6 Submission of inquiry to an alternative dispute

           resolution provider

    671-17 Immunity of panel members from liability

    671-18 Statute of limitations tolled

    671-19 Duty to cooperate; assessment of costs and fees

    671-20 Annual report

         Part III.  Patients' Compensation Fund--Repealed

    671-31 to 37 Repealed

Case Notes

  As chapter rationally furthers legitimate state interest of assuring the provision of affordable health care to Hawaii's citizens by requiring participation in medical malpractice dispute resolution such that the high cost of litigation may be avoided, plaintiff not denied equal protection of the laws.  89 H. 188, 970 P.2d 496 (1998).

  Section 671-12(a) requires only that a claimant set forth facts upon which the claim is based and include the names of all parties against whom the claim is or may be made who are then known to the claimant; nowhere in §671-12 does it require plaintiffs to name all known negligent health care providers; having filed the requisite medical claim conciliation panel claim, participated in the required hearing, and rejected the panel's finding of no actionable negligence, plaintiffs satisfied this chapter's statutory prerequisites for filing suit in circuit court.  111 H. 74, 137 P.3d 980 (2006).

  Where defendant was a Hawaii nonprofit organization, which served as the parent corporation of four affiliated hospitals in Hawaii, including Kapiolani, a wholly-owned subsidiary of defendant, defendant was a "health care provider" in the context of this chapter.  121 H. 235 (App.), 216 P.3d 1258 (2009).

  Plaintiff's claims of neglect, abuse, and failure to provide a safe home against care home defendants did not constitute "medical torts" within the meaning of §671-1; thus, plaintiff was not required to submit plaintiff's claims to a medical claim conciliation panel (MCCP) pursuant to §§671-12 and 671-16 as a condition for plaintiff to file suit against defendants, and the circuit court erred in dismissing plaintiff's suit based on plaintiff's failure to submit plaintiff's claims to a MCCP.  128 H. 405 (App.), 289 P.3d 1041 (2012).

Law Journals and Reviews

  The Wavering Line Between Medical Malpractice and Ordinary Negligence in Elder Abuse Litigation.  18 HBJ, no. 13, at 81 (2015).