In Ciluffo v. Middlesex General Hospital, the court adopted a framework for trial courts to follow when a plaintiff settles a negligence claim with the original tortfeasor and proceeds to trial against medical professionals whose subsequent negligent treatment resulted in additional injuries and damages. 146 N.J. Super. 476 (App. Div. 1977). To avoid a windfall to the plaintiff, the court explained that after a plaintiff settled her claim with the first of successive independent tortfeasors, the medical defendants were entitled to a full pro tanto credit for the settlement amount if that amount exceeded the total "provable damages" suffered by the plaintiff as determined by a jury; the medical defendants would receive a partial credit against any verdict if the settlement amount exceeded the difference between the total provable damages minus the amount of damages the jury apportioned to the malpractice. Id. at 482–83.
In this case, plaintiff's decedent suffered a fractured ankle resulting from a fall at a restaurant. She came under the care of medical defendants, who performed surgery on the fracture five days later. Plaintiff's decedent allegedly suffered additional injuries, and subsequently died from a pulmonary embolism, allegedly the result of defendants' medical malpractice.
While discovery was ongoing, plaintiff settled her claim with the restaurant for $1.15 million. The medical defendants moved for a declaration entitling them to the Ciluffo pro tanto settlement credit, and the motion judge entered orders to that effect.
The court granted plaintiff leave to appeal and reversed. After examining caselaw developments in the years since Ciluffo was decided, including enactment of the Comparative Negligence Act, the court concluded that awarding pro tanto settlement credits is a vestige of the common law without support in our current jurisprudence.