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Ling v. Stillwell8/15/2000
FOR PUBLICATION
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
Case Summary
John Ling, Jr. and the Board of Trustees of Vermillion County Hospital (collectively referred to as the "Hospital") appeal from the trial court's denial of its motion for summary judgment. We affirm.
Issues
The Hospital raises three issues for our review, which we restate as:
1. Whether the trial court properly denied the Hospital's motion for summary judgment on the issue of the statute of limitations;
2. Whether the trial court properly considered Stillwell's designated evidence in ruling on the Hospital's motion for summary judgment; and
3. Whether the trial court improperly relied on the doctrine of collateral estoppel in ruling on the Hospital's motion for summary judgment.
Facts and Procedural History
On August 1, 1994, Doris Stillwell died while a patient of the Intensive Care Unit at Vermillion County Hospital. While a patient at the hospital, Doris was under the care of nurse Orville Lynn Majors. Because of the rise in the mortality rate at the hospital during Majors' employment there, a criminal investigation of Majors was started in March of 1995. The investigation of the epidemic level mortality rate at the hospital's intensive care unit ultimately ended in Majors' conviction for murder.
When Doris passed away, James Stillwell, her son, was unaware of the increase in the death rate at the hospital. The local newspaper reported on the investigation of the suspicious deaths in the summer of 1995 but no mention of Doris' death was included in the article nor was there any indication her death was a part of an investigation. Similarly, when Stillwell's attorney obtained a copy of the Survey of the Indiana State Department of Health in the fall of 1995, no specific reference to Doris or her death was made. This survey only revealed information pertaining to the death rate at the hospital as well as the hospital's questionable practices with respect to death charts of individuals, without mentioning specific patients, who died at the hospital. Stillwell learned of the preliminary results of the police investigation in the fall of 1996. Although some of these events occurred prior to the expiration of the two-year statute of limitations, they were tenuous at best and gave Stillwell no reason to suspect that his mother's death had been involved in Majors' criminal activity.
It was not until July 1997, that Stillwell became aware that the circumstances surrounding Doris' death had been part of the investigation, but documentation to identify victims of Major's misconduct was not available until December of 1997 when the police completed their investigation and filed charges against Majors.
After becoming aware in July 1997 of the fact that his mother's death was involved with the investigation, Stillwell promptly filed a proposed complaint on September 5, 1997, with the Indiana Department of Insurance seeking to recover damages because of Doris' death. Stillwell filed his complaint before the police finished their investigation and filed a probable cause affidavit in December of 1997 naming the numbers of people who died while Majors was working, and specifically naming six victims who the police had probable cause to believe Majors had murdered. Although Doris was not named as one of those six, this information provided Stillwell with concrete information that Majors was, indeed, involved in misconduct relating to many patients and confirmed his suspicions that his mother was also a victim.
The Hospital filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that Stillwel
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