SULLIVAN, S.J.
Appellant Indiana Department of Insurance, Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund (the Fund) appeals the trial court’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Judgment in favor of Appellee Robin Everhart, as Personal Representative of the Estate of James K. Everhart, Jr. (Everhart). We reverse and remand.
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[The main issue is w]hether the trial court erred by awarding full damages to Everhart rather than damages in proportion to the increased risk of harm to James resulting from medical malpractice.
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Restatement (Second) of Torts § 323, which this Court adopted in Mayhue, provides that a person is liable to another for injuries caused by the person’s failure to exercise due care only when “failure to exercise such care increases the risk of such harm.” That provision is not limited to cases where the risk of harm absent negligence is greater than fifty percent. Furthermore, as our Supreme Court has noted, “[i]t is not apparent that application of Section 323 turns on the degree of initial risk that is aggravated.” Smith, 734 N.E.2d at 551.
In addition, as we noted above, in Cahoon our Supreme Court asserted that doctors should be held liable for their own negligence and not for conditions that are not the product of the doctor’s actions. 734 N.E.2d at 541. Compensation for injuries caused is the basis for recovery for a wrongful death. Id. These considerations apply with equal force whether the patient would have had more or less than a fifty percent chance of survival absent a doctor’s negligence.
Furthermore, we note that in the line of cases discussed above our Supreme Court has repeatedly referred to general principles of tort liability in the context of medical malpractice damages. In Cahoon, our Supreme Court noted that the rule set forth in Section 323 is “consistent with the legislative policy underlying Indiana law of apportionment of damages for tort liability generally. Under Indiana’s comparative fault scheme, a defendant is liable only to the degree he or she is responsible for the claimant’s injury or damages.” Id. In Herbst, the Court reiterated that liability for damages is generally limited to the damage caused by the defendant. 902 N.E.2d at 224. Once again, these principles are not limited in application to cases where the patient had less than a fifty-one percent chance of surviving absent medical malpractice.
Based on the foregoing, it is not consistent with Supreme Court precedent to hold the Fund liable for more than the increased risk of harm that Dr. Clarke caused. To determine, as Everhart requests, that she is entitled to full recovery from the Fund even though James had approximately only an eighty percent chance of survival absent medical malpractice would, in effect, hold the Fund accountable for damages for which Dr. Clarke was not responsible. Consequently, the trial court’s conclusions are not supported by caselaw, and we are left with a firm conviction that a mistake has been made.
Total recovery for medical malpractice is limited by statute to $1,250,000. Ind. Code § 34-18-14-3. The health care provider is responsible for no more than $250,000. Id.; see generally Herbst, 902 N.E.2d 220 (Ind. 2009). This leaves a maximum allowable recovery by Everhart from the Patient’s Compensation Fund of $1,000,000. This was the amount requested by Everhart in his petition and was the amount awarded to Everhart from the Fund. The damage award by the trial court was therefore the maximum allowable under the law.
We reverse and remand with instructions to the trial court to recalculate its damages award and award damages to Everhart in proportion to the increase in risk of harm that was caused by Dr. Clarke’s malpractice. The trial court has previously found that James had “better than an eighty percent (80%) chance of surviving his injuries,” Appellant’s App. at 19-20, and that the damages as a result of James’ death “far exceed[ ] Three Million One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($3,150,000),” id. at 30. A precise calculation is required. The trial court must determine the actual percentage chance of survival and the actual amount of damages on remand. It is the trial court’s prerogative to make this calculation, but we note that given the trial court’s earlier findings, and the precise calculations, the maximum statutory award of $1,000,000 may nevertheless be justified.
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For these reasons, we reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand for a recalculation of damages consistent with this opinion.
Reversed.
BAKER, C.J., and ROBB, J., concur.