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Ling v. Webb9/30/2005
FOR PUBLICATION
Case Summary
Appellants-Defendants John Ling, Jr., and Board of Trustees of Vermillion County Hospital, Vermillion County Hospital, Doctor Gerald Longa, and Doctor Frank Spendal (collectively, "Appellants") appeal the trial court's partial denial of its motion for preliminary determination in favor of Appellees-Plaintiffs, Clinton S. Webb, as Administrator of the Estate of Katherine Ruth Webb; Viola K. Chrimes, Individually and as Surviving Next of Kin and Administrator of the Estate of Charles Malkin; Marylin Whittington, Individually and as Surviving Next of Kin and Administrator of the Estate of Ocie Gebhart; and Mary Hedden, Individually and as Surviving Next of Kin and Administrator of the Estate of Russell Hedden (collectively referred to as, "Appellees").
We reverse and remand.
Issue
Appellants raise one issue on appeal, which we restate as whether the trial court's partial denial of their motion for preliminary determination was erroneous because the Class Action Tolling Rule does not apply to Appellees' medical malpractice claims and, thus, such claims are time-barred.
Facts and Procedural History
During the period between late 1993 and early 1995, more than 140 patients died in the intensive care unit of Vermillion County Hospital ("Hospital"), most of who were under the care of hospital nurse Orville Lynn Majors ("Nurse Majors"). Nurse Majors was eventually convicted of murdering seven of these patients. See Majors v. State, 773 N.E.2d 231, 239 (Ind. 2002).
Katherine Ruth Webb ("Webb"), Charles Malkin ("Malkin"), Ocie Gebhart ("Gebhart"), and Russell Hedden ("Hedden") all died while in the Hospital under the care of Nurse Majors. Specifically, Webb died on August 3, 1994, Malkin died on December 20, 1994, Gebhart died on December 15, 1994, and Hedden died on February 3, 1995.
Within two years of their loved one's death, Appellees, on behalf of the decedents, filed complaints in federal and state courts, alleging class and negligence actions. Thereafter, on April 10, 1996, a class of plaintiffs ("Plaintiffs")-not including our Appellees-filed a proposed class action complaint ("Proposed Class Complaint") with the Department of Insurance, asserting that the care and treatment provided to their decedents did not meet the applicable standard of care for medical providers. On April 20, 1999, the Plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary determination of law in the trial court, requesting class certification for purposes of the Proposed Class Complaint, which they later agreed to dismiss in March of 2000. The Plaintiffs' proposed complaint is still pending with the medical review panel.
In addition to the Proposed Class Complaint, Appellees filed individual proposed complaints with the Department of Insurance. In particular, Clinton S. Webb filed a proposed complaint for medical malpractice, on behalf of Webb, on July 24, 1997. Viola K. Chrimes, filed a proposed complaint on Malkin's behalf on April 4, 2000. Marylin Whittington filed a proposed complaint on behalf of Gebhart on February 21, 1997. Mary Hedden filed a proposed complaint on Hedden's behalf on February 21, 1997.
In 2003 and 2004, Appellants invoked the jurisdiction of the trial court under Indiana Code Section 34-18-11-1 when they filed several motions for preliminary determinations of law, i.e., motions for summary judgment, which were accompanied by evidentiary exhibits. Appellants argued that Appellees' proposed complaints were time-barred by the applicable statute of limitations because they were not filed within two years of the occurrences of the alleged malpractices. In re
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