Variety Children's Hosp. v. Perkins

Summary

The Florida Supreme Court held that a prior personal-injury judgment obtained during the injured person's lifetime barred a subsequent wrongful-death action based on the same tortious conduct. The court interpreted section 768.19, Florida Statutes, as requiring a viable cause of action in the decedent at the time of death and quashed the district court's decision. The opinion includes a concurrence in result and a dissent arguing that the wrongful-death claim is an independent claim belonging to the beneficiaries.

Holdings

1. A final judgment for personal injuries rendered in favor of the injured party during life bars a subsequent wrongful-death action based on the same tortious conduct.
2. The statutory wrongful-death cause of action did not survive because the decedent had no existing right of action against the tortfeasor at the moment of death.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a final judgment awarding personal-injury damages to an injured person during his lifetime bars a subsequent wrongful-death action based on the same tortious conduct.
2. Whether the Florida Wrongful Death Act permits a wrongful-death action when the decedent had no viable cause of action at the time of death because the personal-injury claim had already been litigated and satisfied.

Disposition

quashed