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Oral Arguments before the Intermediate Court of Appeals

No. 29145 – Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 9 a.m.

BERT YOGI and DARNELL YOGI, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. HAWAII MEDICAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION, Defendant-Appellant, and JOHN DOES 1-99; JANE DOES 1-99; DOE ENTITIES 1-20, and DOE GOVERNMENTAL UNITS 1-10, Defendants.

Attorney(s) for Defendant-Appellant
Charles A. Price (Koshiba, Agena & Kubota)

Attorney(s) for Plaintiffs-Appellees
Arleen D. Jouxson and Rafael G. Del Castillo (Jouxson-Meyers & Castillo)

COURT:    Nakamura, CJ; Foley and Ginoza, JJ.

SPECIAL NOTE:    The above argument will take place in the Supreme Court courtroom on the Second Floor of Aliiolani Hale, 417 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii.

[ Listen to the entire audio recording in mp3 format ]

Brief description:

Defendant-Appellant Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) appeals an order by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit denying HMSA’s motion to compel arbitration of Plaintiffs-Appellees Bert Yogi and Darnell Yogi’s claims for breach of contract, bad faith, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress, under which the Yogis seek damages.

The claims by the Yogis stem from HMSA’s alleged conduct in denying authorization for a medical procedure recommended by Mr. Yogi’s physician.  HMSA’s denial of the disputed medical procedure was reviewed by a panel pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes § 432E-6 and Mr. Yogi subsequently underwent the procedure.  The Yogis then initiated this action for damages.

On appeal, HMSA contends the circuit court erred in refusing to compel arbitration of the claims in this case under the terms of an arbitration provision contained in Mr. Yogi’s Preferred Provider Plan.