FRANKFORT — Unlike young children, adults cannot sue for loss of affection after a parent's wrongful death, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

        Splitting 2-1, an appellate panel refused to reinstate a suit filed in Simpson County by the grown children of a woman who died after taking the controversial diet drug combination known as fen-phen.

        Kentucky by statute gives parents a right to sue for loss of love and affection when a minor child is killed.

        Three years ago, the state Supreme Court declared that the inverse should also be true and ruled that minor children have the same right when a parent is killed.

        In the current case, the children of Linda K. Cathey urged the appeals court to “take the next step” and recognize a claim for “loss of parental consortium” on behalf of adult children.

        The panel declined.

        The majority opinion, by Judge William Knopf of Louisville, said any such step must be taken by the General Assembly or the Supreme Court.

        “We certainly do not wish to diminish or disparage the close bond which many adult children maintain with their parents,” Judge Knopf's opinion said.

        But “there is a legitimate basis for limiting recovery for loss of parental consortium to minor or unemancipated children,” he said.

        For one thing, Kentucky has a statute specifically declaring a state policy that children should be protected and cared for in a nurturing home.

        In addition to that is the statute providing a consortium claim for parents of young children, which the Supreme Court cited in 1997.

        “In this case, there is no reciprocity interest because Kentucky statutes do not recognize a parent's claim for loss of consortium with their adult children,” Judge Knopf's opinion said.

        Judge Rick Johnson of Mayfield concurred in a separate opinion.

        The dissenter, Judge Sara Walter Combs of Stanton, argued that “loss of consortium of an adult child is a logical and proper extension” of the 1997 Supreme Court ruling.

        Ms. Cathey died in May 1998. Her children — Clifton T. Cathey, Carolyn M. Smith and Carla Sullivan — sued two doctors who prescribed her fen-phen and the companies that made, distributed and marketed the drugs. The suit was dismissed in Simpson Circuit Court at Franklin.
       

Ex-wife gets a cut
        Also Friday, a second appellate panel ruled that money a soldier was paid to get him to leave the Army is marital property, and his ex-wife is entitled to a share.

        The court said the case involving payments under the Army's Voluntary Separation Incentive program was the first of its kind in Kentucky.

        Ronald Lee Lykins, a former Army helicopter pilot, resigned from the service after 16 years. He opted for a VSI plan that would pay him $18,000 a year for 34 years, beginning in 1992.

        Mr. Lykins claimed the VSI payments were his separate property after he and his wife, Martha Ann Lykins, separated in 1997.

        A Fayette Circuit Court judge ruled otherwise. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals.

        Judge Johnson, of Mayfield, wrote the opinion, joined by Judges Julia Tackett of Lexington and Wilfrid Schroder of Covington.

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