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Schuffert v. Morgan6/30/2000
The plaintiff, Joy Schuffert, appeals from a partial summary judgment entered by the Jefferson Circuit Court in favor of the defendant, Dr. Richard E. Morgan, Jr., on the ground that certain claims presented in Schuffert's action alleging dental malpractice were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
Dr. Morgan provided dental services to Schuffert on a continuing basis from November 4, 1980, until December 21, 1994. During that period, Dr. Morgan replaced a bridge, performed approximately eight root canals, and placed three crowns on Schuffert's teeth. One root canal had to be redone and two others were never completed.
On December 21, 1994, Schuffert began to experience a discoloration of her gums and severe dental pain. Because Schuffert was unable to get an appointment with Dr. Morgan, she sought emergency dental treatment from Dr. Martha Wallace Dawson. Dr. Dawson examined Schuffert and referred her to an endodontist. Dr. Dawson informed Schuffert that she had developed cellulitis and periodontal disease and had begun to experience generalized bone loss.
On July 6, 1995, Schuffert sued Dr. Morgan under the Alabama Medical Liability Act ("AMLA"), claiming that Dr. Morgan had improperly performed dental work on Schuffert and that the improper work had caused cellulitis, infection, periodontal disease, and generalized bone loss. She further claimed that Dr. Morgan had breached the applicable standard of care by failing to diagnose and treat the periodontal disease and that this breach had resulted in further damage.
The AMLA provides at ยง 6-5-548, Ala. Code 1975, in pertinent part:
"(a) In any action for injury or damages or wrongful death, whether in contract or in tort, against a health care provider for breach of the standard of care the plaintiff shall have the burden of proving by substantial evidence that the health care provider failed to exercise such reasonable care, skill and diligence as other similarly situated health care providers in the same general line of practice, ordinarily have and exercise in a like case."
Section 6-5-482(a) establishes the limitations period for the commencement of an action against a health-care provider:
"All actions against physicians, surgeons, dentists, medical institutions, or other health care providers for liability, error, mistake, or failure to cure, whether based on contract or tort, must be commenced within two years next after the act, or omission, or failure giving rise to the claim, and not afterwards; provided, that if the cause of action is not discovered and could not reasonably have been discovered within such period, then the action may be commenced within six months from the date of such discovery or the date of discovery of facts which would reasonably lead to such discovery, whichever is earlier; provided further, that in no event may the action be commenced more than four years after such act ...."
On November 19, 1996, Dr. Morgan moved for a partial summary judgment on the ground that, except as to the tooth identified as tooth number 12, the claims were barred by the statute of limitations applicable to malpractice claims. In support of his motion for summary judgment, Dr. Morgan presented the following statements in an affidavit:
"2. The Plaintiff has made allegations regarding various dental work dating back to the early 1980's. The present action was filed on July 6, 1995; therefore, any alleged acts, errors or omissions occurring before July 6, 1991 would be outside the four year period and thus clearly time-barred.
"3. The alleged wrongful conduct occ
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