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Hagen v. Faherty2/18/2003
The issue in this case is whether the state may be estopped from invoking the statute of limitations in the Tort Claims Act, NMSA 1978, § 41-4-15 (1977), when right and justice demand. We hold that it may. Defendant-Appellant Dr. Sean Faherty applied for, and this Court granted, an interlocutory appeal challenging the partial summary judgment granted by the district court that dismissed his affirmative defense asserting the statute of limitations. We affirm.
FACTS AND BACKGROUND
Faherty was at all times pertinent to this claim an employee of the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) working as a temporary fill-in doctor at LifeCourse Immediate Care Center in Farmington, New Mexico (ICC), pursuant to an agreement between UNMH and the San Juan Regional Medical Center (SJRMC), the corporate owner of ICC. Faherty provided medical services to Plaintiff-Appellee Gerald Hagen's son Nathan on the evening of October 20, 1998, and again on the morning of October 21, 1998. Later that day, Nathan was taken to the SJRMC for a CT scan which showed that he had a brain aneurysm. Nathan died on October 24, 1998.
Approximately two years and three months later, Nathan's parents and Nathan's father as Personal Representative (the Hagens) filed a complaint to recover damages for medical negligence, naming Faherty as Defendant. The Hagens later amended the complaint, adding SJRMC as a defendant. It was not until Faherty answered the Hagens' amended complaint, asserting the affirmative defense of the statute of limitations, that he identified himself to the Hagens as a UNMH employee. SJRMC and ICC are privately owned and are subject to the three-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice actions. See NMSA 1978, § 41-5-13 (1976). However, UNMH is a public institution, making Faherty a public employee subject to the Tort Claims Act and its two-year statute of limitations. See § 41-4-15.
The district court found that all appearances indicated that Faherty was an employee of the ICC on October 20 and 21, 1998. The district court concluded that Faherty was the apparent agent of SJRMC and that no reasonable person would have concluded that on October 20 and 21, 1998, Faherty was an employee of UNMH. The district court also concluded that right and justice demand that Faherty be estopped from claiming that the statute of limitations in the Tort Claims Act had run, invoking as authority Lopez v. State, 1996-NMSC-071, 20, 122 N.M. 611, 930 P.2d 146. The district court then granted the Hagens partial summary judgment and dismissed Faherty's statute of limitations affirmative defense. Faherty now appeals the grant of partial summary judgment.
We hold that the district court correctly applied the law when it estopped Faherty from asserting the statute of limitations defense. Because we affirm on this issue, we do not reach Faherty's and the Hagens' remaining arguments, including the issues of apparent agency, dual agency, and the duty regarding a confidential relationship between doctor and patient.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Greacen, 2000-NMSC-016, 3, 129 N.M. 177, 3 P.3d 672. The factual findings by the district court in this case are undisputed. We review de novo whether the district court properly decided the legal effect of those facts. Id. Faherty does not contend that disputed questions of fact require a trial and instead contends that "the correct principles of law require that . . . the case be remanded with instructions to enter summary judgment in favor of Defenda
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