THE JUDGE MUST CHECK WHETHER THE BODILY INJURY IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO A FAULT

Liability for personal injury

Lawyers in Bastia, Lawyers in Corsica, Lawyers for personal injury

In this case :

Following surgery at the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal (CHI) Robert Ballanger :

- to treat a closed fracture of the proximal third of the right femur following a road traffic accident,

- Mr A. B. suffered compartment syndrome in his left leg.

When Mr B... brought a claim for compensation for the loss he had suffered, the administrative court de Montreuil a :

- by a judgment dated 30 May 2017,

- charged to the Office national d'indemnisation des accidents médicaux, des affections iatrogènes et des infections nosocomiales (ONIAM) (French national compensation office for medical accidents, iatrogenic diseases and nosocomial infections)

- 515,428.50.

However, it rejected the claims submitted by :

- the Val-d'Oise primary health insurance fund (CPAM),

- the CHI

- and ONIAM.

On appeal by ONIAM, the Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal ruled on 16 June 2020 that thecompensation was to be charged to the CHI.

She ordered the latter to pay :

- to Mr B. the sum of 327,233.10 euros

- CPAM Val d'Oise:

a sum of 184,542.44 euros in respect of out-of-pocket expenses; and

and, secondly, a sum of 23,875.48 euros in respect of disability pension arrears paid by the Caisse régionale d'assurance maladie d'Île-de-France (CRAMIF) due on 1 October 2017 and the reimbursement of pension arrears after that date.

In two decisions handed down on 14 December 2021, the Conseil d'Etat, hearing appeals, ruled that :

- first, the form of order sought in the CHI's appeal against that judgment insofar as it rules on the claims of the CPAM du Val d'Oise for reimbursement of the benefits paid by it to Mr B.

- and, secondly, the form of order sought by the latter in his appeal against the same judgment insofar as it ruled on his claim for compensation for the effects of his employment.

In law (Liability for personal injury) :

The form of order sought by the CHI Robert Ballanger :

Under the terms of Article L. 376-1 of the Social Security CodeCPAM du Val d'Oise applied to the lower courts for payment of 184,542.44 euros in reimbursement of its out-of-pocket expenses.

Visit taking the view that all of the expenditure comprising this sum was attributable to compartment syndrome of the left leg and should therefore be charged to the CHI whereas it is clear from the documents in the file submitted to the trial judges, in particular the expert's report, that Mr B.'s injury alone justified, given its seriousness and independently of the fault committed by the CHI during the surgery, hospital treatment, medical care and time off work, the Administrative Court of Appeal distorted the documents in the file.

It follows that the CHI Robert Ballanger is therefore entitled to argue that its judgment should be set aside in so far as :

- to rule on the CPAM Val d'Oise's claims,

- seeking reimbursement of the benefits it provided to Mr B....

The form of order sought in Mr B.'s appeal (Liability for personal injury) :

It is clear from the documents in the case file submitted to the trial judges that Mr B... was claiming :

- in compensation for the loss suffered,

- the payment of compensation for the impact of work.

In rejecting these submissions on the sole ground that Mr B. was not unable to carry out any professional activity on the date his condition was consolidated, even though such a circumstance, assuming it were established, is not such as to deprive the victim of a right to compensation for this head of loss, the Administrative Court of Appeal erred in law.

It therefore follows that its judgment must be set aside. In particular, insofar as it rules on the claimant's request for compensation for the impact of his work.

Lawyers in Bastia, Lawyers in Corsica, Lawyers for personal injury

CE, 5th ch, 1st July 2022, n°442802