 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Calaway ex rel Calaway v. Schucker12/9/2005
aw.
The parties filed a joint motion in federal court to certify questions of law to this Court. The federal court issued a certification order on November 24, 2004, which was filed with us on December 1, 2004. The certification order did not designate either party as the movant. We also granted the respective motions of the Tennessee Medical Association and the Tennessee Trial Lawyers' Association to file amicus curiae briefs in this case.
The following four questions were certified by the federal court and accepted by this Court:
(1) Does a minor child have a personal claim for medical expenses arising from an injury caused by the fault of another when the claim of the child's parent for such medical expenses is barred by a statute of limitation or repose?
(2) Does a minor child who is injured have a personal claim for medical expenses accruing after the age of majority?
(3) Is the three-year statute of repose for medical malpractice in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-116, which contains no exception for minority, tolled during a plaintiff's minority?
(4) Is a physician defendant denied equal protection of the law wherein an exception to the statute of repose contained in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-116 is created for minority in medical malpractice cases, while no similar exception exists in product liability and construction cases?
Starting with the third question, and for the reasons that follow, we answer that the plaintiff's minority does not toll Tennessee's medical malpractice statute of repose, Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26- 116(a)(3). Consequently, our answer to the first question is that a minor child's personal claims for medical expenses arising from a medical malpractice injury is barred by the statute of repose; and as to the second question, we answer that if the child's personal claims are barred by the statute of repose, that action cannot be brought by the child upon reaching majority. Finally, because our answer to the third question renders the fourth question moot, we decline to answer it.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
The touchstone of this Court's role in statutory interpretation "is to ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute's coverage beyond its intended scope." Houghton v. Aramark Educ. Res., Inc., 90 S.W.3d 676, 678 (Tenn. 2002) (quoting Owens v. State, 908 S.W.2d 923, 926 (Tenn. 1995)); see also State v. Flemming, 19 S.W.3d 195, 197 (Tenn. 2000); State v. Butler, 980 S.W.2d 359, 362 (Tenn. 1998). We determine intent "from the natural and ordinary meaning of the statutory language within the context of the entire statute without any forced or subtle construction that would extend or limit the statute's meaning," Flemming, 19 S.W.3d at 197 (citing Butler, 980 S.W.2d at 362), and if the language of a statute is clear, we must apply its plain meaning without a forced interpretation. Mooney v. Sneed, 30 S.W.3d 304, 306 (Tenn. 2000).
ANALYSIS
This case presents us with our first direct opportunity to address the question whether the minority provisions of Tennessee's legal disability statute, Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-1-106, toll the medical malpractice statute of repose, Tennessee Code Annotated Section 29-26-116(a)(3). The plaintiff contends, on the basis of several decisions issued by lower state courts and one federal district court, that minority tolls the three-year statute of repose. The defendant argues, largely on the basis of statements we made in two recent cases, Penley v. Honda Motor Company, 31 S.W.3d 181 (Tenn 2000), and Mills v. Wong, 155 S.W.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|