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Penley v. Honda Motor Co.8/25/2000
. Although section 28-1-106 groups mental incompetency with minority, the General Assembly was not required to toll all otherwise applicable statutes of repose for persons falling within either category of legal disability, and we will not upset the legislative purpose of the TPLA by unduly extending the statute of repose ourselves.
Finally, the plaintiff urges this Court to follow the approach taken by Bowers by Bowers v. Hammond, 954 S.W.2d 752 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997), in which the Court of Appeals held that the legal disability statute tolled the three-year medical malpractice statute of repose, Tenn. Code Ann. ยง 29-26-116, during the minority of the plaintiff. In dicta, the Bowers court expressed the belief that minority status was synonymous with mental incompetency, and that section 28-1-106 permitted tolling of the statute of repose for mental incompetency as well.
We disagree with the rationale used by the Bowers court to find implied exceptions for minority and mental incompetence to the three-year medical malpractice statute of repose. The Bowers holding is in stark contrast to the plain language of the statute, which admits of no tolling other than for fraudulent concealment, and the holding fails to recognize the policies underlying the statute of repose itself. In addition, the Bowers court seems to have ignored that the plain language of the legal disability statute applies only to toll statutes of limitations rather than statutes of repose.
Despite its imperfect reasoning, though, we note that the actual holding of the Bowers court does little structural damage to the medical malpractice statute of repose. As we stated earlier, not all types of legal disability affect the running of a statute of repose in the same manner, and an exception for minority merely extends-but does not practically eliminate-the repose period. Because Bowers has been the law in this state since 1997, and because the General Assembly has made no effort to amend the three-year statute of repose since Bowers to remove the implied exception for minority, we recognize that the bench, bar, and the public in general may have various reliance interests in its holding. Accordingly, we limit the precedential weight of that opinion to its explicit holding that the three-year medical malpractice statute of repose is tolled during the minority of the plaintiff. To the extent that the Bowers dicta can be read to toll any statute of repose for mental incompetency under Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-1-106, however, it is overruled.
CONCLUSION
In summary, we hold that the ten-year statute of repose in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-28-103(a) is not tolled during any period of the plaintiff's mental incompetency. The language of section 29-28-103(a) admits of no exception other than those expressly listed, the policies underlying the products liability statute of repose are not furthered by an implied exception for mental incompetency, and the legal disability statute does not operate to toll an otherwise applicable statute of repose. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals upholding the grant of summary judgment to the defendants is affirmed, and the plaintiff's action with respect to these defendants is dismissed.
Costs of this appeal are assessed to the plaintiff, Ms. Gayle Penley.
WILLIAM M. BARKER, JUSTICE
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