Summary
The Utah Supreme Court affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration in Lisa Bybee's wrongful death action against Dr. Alan Abdulla. The court held that an arbitration agreement signed by the decedent could not bind his nonsignatory heirs to arbitrate their separate wrongful death claim. It further concluded that Utah's medical malpractice arbitration statute did not extend to the wrongful death claim and that enforcing the agreement would conflict with the constitutional protection afforded to wrongful death actions.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a decedent's arbitration agreement can bind a nonsignatory heir pursuing an independent wrongful death claim.
- Whether Utah's 2004 amendment permitting arbitration agreements to apply to certain nonsignatory claims applied to this dispute or covered the wrongful death claim.
- Whether the arbitration agreement could be enforced against Lisa Bybee under an agency theory or because she was an intended third-party beneficiary.
- Whether an arbitration agreement is a defense that may be asserted against heirs in a wrongful death action because it was available to the decedent.
Holdings
- A decedent does not have the power to contract away the wrongful death action of his heirs, and the arbitration agreement was unenforceable against Lisa Bybee.
- An arbitration agreement does not fall within the category of defenses that may be asserted against wrongful death heirs merely because it was available against the decedent.
- Utah Code section 78B-3-421 did not require Lisa Bybee to arbitrate her wrongful death claim because that claim was not based solely on an injury sustained by the patient who signed the agreement.
- Lisa Bybee was not an intended third-party beneficiary of the physician-patient contract and could not be compelled to arbitrate on that basis.
Key quotations
“Thus, absent the presence of some intervening circumstance, a party cannot be compelled to surrender his right to seek a remedy or defend himself in court.” (¶ 8)
“We hold that the district court's denial of Dr. Abdulla's motion to compel arbitration was correct because a decedent does not have the power to contract away the wrongful death action of his heirs and because in a wrongful death action by heirs, arbitration does not fall into the category of defenses that can be raised because they were available against the decedent.” (¶ 40)
Factual background
Mark Bybee was treated by Dr. Alan Abdulla for allergies, and Abdulla prescribed and renewed antidepressant medication while allegedly failing to reevaluate Bybee's depression and response to the medication. Bybee later committed suicide. His widow, Lisa Bybee, brought a wrongful death action alleging medical malpractice and sought damages for losses arising from his death. Mark Bybee had signed an arbitration agreement purporting to bind his spouse and heirs to arbitrate claims arising from his medical care.
Procedural history
Lisa Bybee filed a wrongful death and medical malpractice action alleging that Dr. Alan Abdulla's negligent treatment caused her husband's suicide. Abdulla moved to stay the action and compel arbitration based on an arbitration agreement signed by the decedent. The district court denied the motion, concluding that the statutory amendments could not be applied retroactively and that Bybee was not bound as a nonsignatory, agent, or third-party beneficiary. The Utah Supreme Court affirmed.