Case Name: Brenda Joyce SWEENEY, Kevin Sweeney, Brendi Lashawn Sweeney, a Minor, by her Adult Next Friends, and Bronzie Shannon Sweeney, a Minor, by her Adult Next Friends v. W.H. PRESTON, M.D.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1994-04-07
Citations: 642 So. 2d 332
Docket Number: No. 90-CA-01336
Parties: Brenda Joyce SWEENEY, Kevin Sweeney, Brendi Lashawn Sweeney, a Minor, by her Adult Next Friends, and Bronzie Shannon Sweeney, a Minor, by her Adult Next Friends v. W.H. PRESTON, M.D.
Judges: DAN M. LEE, P.J., and SULLIVAN, PITTMAN and JAMES L. ROBERTS, JR., JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 642
Pages: 332–343

Head Matter:
Brenda Joyce SWEENEY, Kevin Sweeney, Brendi Lashawn Sweeney, a Minor, by her Adult Next Friends, and Bronzie Shannon Sweeney, a Minor, by her Adult Next Friends v. W.H. PRESTON, M.D.
No. 90-CA-01336.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
April 7, 1994.
Rehearing Denied Sept. 29, 1994.
Roy 0. Parker, Roy 0. Parker, Jr., Roy 0. Parker & Associates, Tupelo, for appellants.
Robert G. Krohn, Price Krohn & McLe-more, Corinth, for appellee.

Opinion:
McRAE, Justice,
for the Court:
This appeal arises from a December 10, 1990, order of the Prentiss County Circuit Court granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of Dr. W.H. Preston, M.D., on grounds that the statutes of limitations had run in medical negligence actions brought against him by the heirs of Jonathan Kevin and Brandon Allen Sweeney as well as in an individual claim for personal injuries by Brenda Sweeney, the mother of the infants. Their claims stemmed from the deaths of two infant boys who succumbed to Rh factor complications attributed to Dr. Preston's alleged failure to properly type their mother's blood and administer drugs to desensitize her to the Rh antibodies. Finding that the wrongful death actions were not time-barred pursuant to our decision in Gentry v. Wallace, 606 So.2d 1117 (Miss.1992), and that questions of fact remain to be resolved in Brenda Sweeney's personal injury action in order to determine whether the statute of limitations had run, we reverse and remand for trial.
I.
Jonathan Kevin Sweeney was born on June 26, 1984. He was delivered by Caesarean section after it was discovered in the eighth month of gestation that he suffered from Rh factor complications. Despite two complete blood transfusions, he died two days later. In the spring of 1985, his mother obtained her medical records from Dr. Preston. Those records indicated that Brenda Sweeney's blood had been mistyped during her first pregnancy in 1973, which ended with a stillbirth. Brenda stated in her affidavit that Dr. Preston then told her had he known her blood had been mistyped and that she had Rh positive blood, he would have administered the drug, Rhogram, after her first child was stillborn and the 1984 death would have been prevented. A second male child, Brandon Allen Sweeney, likewise died from Rh factor complications on April 15, 1986, two days after his birth.
Kevin and Brenda Sweeney and their daughters, Brendi LaShawn and Bronzie Shannon, filed wrongful death actions against Dr. Preston on March 23, 1987. Brenda Sweeney further alleged that Dr. Preston's negligent mistyping of her blood in 1973, and his failure to administer Rhogram after the delivery of the stillborn infant in July 1974, caused her to develop a permanent Rh iso-immunization sensitivity. The circuit court ruled that these actions were barred by both Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-36 (Supp.1976) and Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (1972), as amended, and granted Dr. Preston's motion for summary judgment.
II.
Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-36, the two-year statute of limitations applicable to medical negligence actions, does not begin to run until the injured party discovers or should have discovered the negligent act and its relationship to the injury sustained. Williams v. Kilgore, 618 So.2d 51 (Miss.1992). In contrast, Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (1972), the general statute of limitations which governed medical malpractice actions prior to 1976, then provided that "all actions for which no other period of limitations is prescribed shall be commenced within six years after the cause of action accrued, and not after." While the statute contained no definition of "accrual," it was interpreted at that time to mean that the cause of action "accrue[d] and the statute be[gan] to run on the day of the wrongful act or omission of the wrongful act or omission which constitutes the malpractice, not from the time of discovery thereof." Smith v. McComb Infirmary Association, 196 So.2d 91 (Miss.1967), citing Wilder v. St. Joseph Hospital, 225 Miss. 42, 82 So.2d 651 (1955). After July 1, 1976, Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 was no longer applicable to medical malpractice actions, having been supplanted by the legislature's enactment of Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-36 (Supp.1976), which created a two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims which "accrued on or after July 1, 1976." While the statute shortened the limitation period, it provided a definition of "accrual" which imparted a "discovery" standard in medical malpractice cases, providing that the statute begins to run "from the date the alleged act, omission or neglect shall or with reasonable diligence might have been first known or discovered." § 15-1-36(1). We explained the discovery rule in Smith v. Sanders, 485 So.2d 1051 (Miss.1986), as follows:
The focus is upon the time that the plaintiff discovers, or should have discovered, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, that he probably had an actionable injury. The operative time is when the plaintiff can reasonably be held to have knowledge of the injury itself, the cause of the injury, and the causal relationship of the injury and the conduct of the medical practitioner.
Id. at 1052 (emphasis added).
In Kilgore v. Barnes, 508 So.2d 1042 (Miss.1987), we considered the applicability of § 15-1-36 to a claim arising frpm an alleged negligent act or omission occurring in 1974, but undiscovered by the plaintiff until 1982. Finding that the claim was still viable because the plaintiff had no reason to discover that part of a surgical needle had been left in the lining of his heart during a 1974 operation, we affirmed the circuit court's order denying the defendant's motion for summary judgment. Id. at 1045-1046. In so ruling, we stated that:
[w]e may not give retroactive effect to newly enacted statutes of limitations shortening the period within which a claim arising prior to enactment must be brought, [citations omitted] On the other hand, most other jurisdictions recognize the authority of legislatures to enlarge periods of limitation with respect to existing claims, that is, claims not barred at the time of elongation, [citations omitted] This is consistent with our general principle that an act remedial in its character embraces claims existing when the act was passed, [citation omitted]
Id. at 1044-1045.
We reviewed our application of the discovery standard to latent injuries and diseases which do not manifest themselves until many years after the alleged act of medical negligence in Williams v. Kilgore, 618 So.2d 51 (Miss.1992). In that case, a biopsy needle broke in 1964, lodging in the patient's left buttock region. Although Mrs. Williams was reassured by her surgeon that the needle would be removed, and then, that it had been removed, it was not. Despite evidence that some of her many physicians were aware of the needle's continued presence in 1972, and a long history of unexplained lower back pain and infections, Mrs. Williams asserted that she was not aware of the linkage between the needle and her various ailments until she was hospitalized for back problems in 1985. Williams, 618 So.2d at 52. In holding that Williams' 1987 claim was not barred by either § 15-1-86 or § 15 — 1—49, we analogized her injury other "inherently undiscoverable" injuries. Id. at 53, citing Owens-Illinois v. Edwards, 573 So.2d 704 (Miss.1990) (extending the discovery rule to Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-49 in cases of products liability or negligence involving a latent injury or disease). See also Schiro v. American Tobacco Co., 611 So.2d 962 (Miss.1992) (applying discovery standard in tobacco litigation); Georgia Pacific Corp. v. Taplin, 586 So.2d 823 (Miss.1991) (applying the discovery rule to latent injuries or diseases in worker's compensation cases); Staheli v. Smith, 548 So.2d 1299 (Miss.1989) (applying discovery rule to intentional tort of defamation). In Williams, we reaffirmed our holding in Owens-Illinois that:
we laid to rest the old notion that the statute of limitations begins to run at the time an act of negligence occurs, and held that a cause of action must be completed before an action can be commenced and a tort is not completed until an injury occurs.
Williams, 618 So.2d at 54 (emphasis added). Thus, where an injury or disease is latent, a determination of when the statute of limitation begins to run focuses not on the time of the negligent act or omission, but on when the plaintiff discovers the injury or disease. Moreover, knowledge that there exists a casual relationship between the negligent act and the injury or disease complained of is essential because "it is well-established that prescription does not ran against one who has neither actual nor constructive notice of facts that would entitle him to bring an action." Id. at 55, citing Ayo v. Johns-Mansville Sales Corp., 771 F.2d 902, 907 (5th Cir.1985).
A. The Wrongful Death Actions
The heirs of infants Jonathan Kevin Sweeney, who died on June 26, 1984, and Brandon Allen Sweeney, who died on April 15, 1986, filed wrongful death claims against Dr. Preston in March 1987. It is well established that an action may be maintained under our wrongful death statute, Miss.Code Ann. § 11-7-13, for infants who die at birth. Terrell v. Rankin, 511 So.2d 126, 127 (Miss. 1987) (wrongful death action could be maintained for stillborn infant); Rainey v. Horn, 221 Miss. 269, 283, 72 So.2d 434 (1954) (wrongful death action can be maintained for fetus "after it reaches the prenatal age of viability . if such child dies before birth as the result of a negligent act of another"). Thus an action can be maintained for the death of an infant who lived less than forty-eight hours. Applying the discovery standard articulated in Williams v. Kilgore and following our decision in Gentry v. Wallace, 606 So.2d 1117 (Miss.1992), we further find that these causes of action were still viable pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-36.
In Gentry, we reaffirmed our recognition that wrongful death and medical negligence are two separate and distinct causes of action. Id. at 1119. In that case, Mary Gentry was initially diagnosed with cancer in her right breast in 1981, and underwent a radical mastectomy. After experiencing new symptoms, she was treated by Drs. Wallace and Pittman between September, 1984 and March 1, 1985. She was neither diagnosed nor treated for cancer. Id. at 1118. She sought a second opinion and was advised on March 1, 1985, that she suffered from a metastie breast carcinoma, but that the cancer was too advanced for any meaningful treatment. She died of breast and lung cancer two weeks later. Her son filed a wrongful death action on March 16,1987, two years and one day after her death. Id. The trial court granted the doctors' motion for summary judgment, finding that the statute of limitations on the wrongful death action had started to run when Mrs. Gentry discovered her doctors' failure to diagnose her condition. However, reversing the circuit court's decision and explaining the error of its logic, we stated:
"[pjrescription does not begin to run against one who is ignorant of facts that would entitle him to bring an action." Ayo v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 771 F.2d 902, 906 (5th Cir.1985). The most basic fact a wrongful death plaintiff must know in order to be aware that he is "entitled to bring an action" is that a death has occurred. A physician can engage in the most wretched acts of negligence in plain view of a patient's family, but until the patient dies, the family members cannot know the one indispensable fact that would "entitle them to bring an action." In the wrongful death context, therefore, the "alleged act, omission or neglect" to which § 15-1-36 necessarily refers is lethal conduct. There is no logical way that a potential wrongful death plaintiff can "know or discover" conduct entitling him to sue until the decedent dies.
Id. at 1122.
In Gentry, we rejected the notion that a wrongful death claim accrued when the negligent act was discovered even if was discovered prior to the death of the victim of the doctor's negligence. Id. at 1121. Rather, we found that the statute of limitations was triggered by death, reiterating our holding in Owens that a cause of action does not accrue until an injury occurs. We further found that "under the statute, the limitations period does not begin to run until the heir knows or should reasonably know about the medical negligence which caused the death." Gentry, 606 So.2d at 1119.
When considering an appeal from an order of summary judgment, we consider the evidence in light most favorable to the non-moving party. Brown v. Credit Center, Inc., 444 So.2d 358, 362 (Miss.1983). We must, therefore, look at the evidence as it favors the heirs of the Sweeney infants. From the record, it appears that the heirs of Jonathan Kevin Sweeney had no reason to know of the medical negligence that caused his death until nearly a year after he died. There is no evidence that Brenda requested or was asked to request copies of her medical records from Dr. Preston until 1985, nor as we pointed out in Williams, was she obligated to do so. 618 So.2d at 56. Affidavits filed by the Sweeneys reveal only that Brenda was first made aware of her Rh iso-immunization sensitivity during a pregnancy which culminated in the delivery of a healthy infant daughter in 1977 and later advised that there could be "risks" in any future pregnancies. However, a second healthy daughter was born in 1980. Nothing in the affidavits filed by Brenda's physicians suggests either that any of her doctors informed her that her condition could cause the death of an infant, or further, that her iso-immunization sensitivity was caused by Dr. Preston's mistyping of her blood and his failure to administer Rhogram after the 1974 stillbirth. Only in 1985, when Brenda obtained her records, noted that her blood type was incorrectly identified as B positive, and questioned Dr. Preston was a causal link made between his actions in 1973 and the death of Jonathan Kevin Sweeney. Thus, the heirs did not have the facts needed to know that they were "entitled to bring an action" against Dr. Preston for the infant's death until that time. The Sweeney's cause of action for the wrongful death of second infant, Brandon Allen, who was born and subsequently died in April, 1986, falls squarely within the two-year statute of limitations.
B. The Personal Injury Action
Brenda's secondary claim for personal injuries resulting from Dr. Preston's alleged negligence is somewhat more tenuous. As distinguished from the wrongful death claims which accrue at a distinct time and place, the record presents us with conflicting evidence of when the injuries claimed took place. We have recognized that in some instances, the issue of whether a suit is barred by a statute of limitations is a question of fact for a jury to determine. Smith v. Sanders, 485 So.2d 1051, 1053 (Miss.1986). A cause of action based on any personal injury she may claim arose not when the alleged acts of negligence occurred, but when she discovered or reasonably should have discovered the acts or omissions and their relationship to the injury sustained. Williams, 618 So.2d at 54. Thus, summary judgment was not appropriate. Only when these issues have been resolved by a jury can it be determined whether her cause of action is still viable.
III.
The wrongful death actions against Dr. Preston did not accrue until the deaths of Jonathan Kevin Sweeney and Brandon Allen Sweeney and the heirs discovered the cause of those deaths. The actions were timely filed within the applicable statute of limitations. Thus, summary judgment was not appropriate. The viability of Brenda Sweeney's personal injury claim against Dr. Preston is governed by the discovery standard. Questions of material fact, properly within the province of the jury, govern this issue. Accordingly, we reverse and remand this case for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR PROCEEDINGS CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION.
DAN M. LEE, P.J., and SULLIVAN, PITTMAN and JAMES L. ROBERTS, JR., JJ., concur.
HAWKINS, C.J., dissents with separate written opinion joined by PRATHER, P.J., and BANKS and SMITH, JJ.
. In Smith v. McComb Infirmary Association, 196 So.2d 91 (Miss.1967), we likewise held that a medical negligence or malpractice claim is separate and distinct from a wrongful death claim. As in the case sub judice, an infant died from Rh factor complications after its mother's blood had been mistyped. We held that the statute of limitations on the wrongful death action began to run on the date of the infant's death in 1964, not from the date the mother's blood was mistyped in 1958.