Case Name: Larry Gilbert, et al., as Guardians, Appellants, v. Sacred Heart Medical Center, et al., Respondents
Court: Washington Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Washington
Decision Date: 1995-08-10
Citations: 127 Wash. 2d 370
Docket Number: No. 60570-0
Parties: Larry Gilbert, et al., as Guardians, Appellants, v. Sacred Heart Medical Center, et al., Respondents.
Judges: 
Reporter: Washington Reports
Volume: 127
Pages: 370–386

Head Matter:
[No. 60570-0.
En Banc.
August 10, 1995.]
Larry Gilbert, et al., as Guardians, Appellants, v. Sacred Heart Medical Center, et al., Respondents.
Richter, Wimberley, Ericson, Woods & Brown by Daniel E. Huntington; and Robert Drummond, for appellants.
Chase, Hayes & Kalamon by Richard E. Hayes and Christine M. Weaver; Witherspoon, Kelley, Davenport & Toole by William M. Symmes and Brian T. Rekofke; Keefe, King & Bowman by Dan W. Keefe and Christopher J. Kerley; and Etter & McMahon by William F. Etter and Stephen M. Lamberson, for respondents.
Jeffrey I. Tilden and Elizabeth A. Alaniz on behalf of Liability Reform Coalition, amicus curiae.
Bryan P. Harnetiaux and Gary N. Bloom on behalf of Washington Trial Lawyers Association, amicus curiae.
Barbara A. Shickich on behalf of Washington State Hospital Association, amicus curiae.

Opinion:
Madsen, J.
Plaintiffs Larry and Cynthia Gilbert, as guardians of their daughter, Laura, appeal the dismissal of their medical malpractice action against the defendant medical care providers. The trial court dismissed the action on the grounds that it is barred by the statute of limitations in RCW 4.16.350. At issue here is the propriety of that ruling.
Laura Gilbert was born at Sacred Heart Medical Center on June 19, 1977, by way of emergency caesarean section. At the time of her birth, Laura was postmature. During labor, Laura's heart rate dropped twice, prompting the caesarean delivery.
A few days after Laura's birth, her father met with doctors to discuss the circumstances of her birth. At this time, Laura was experiencing seizures and other medical problems. The only explanation the doctors could provide was that the umbilical cord might have been wrapped around Laura's neck, depriving her of oxygen.
Laura was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In November 1978, her parents took her to the Child Development and Mental Retardation Center at the University of Washington. The Center concluded that asphyxiation before or at birth caused Laura's cerebral palsy. It thus became obvious to the Gilberts that their daughter was brain damaged, and that the damage related to events surrounding her birth. They had some concern that improper care had caused Laura's condition, and that her brain damage might have been avoided had a caesarean section been performed earlier.
These concerns led Laura's father to seek legal counsel in 1979, regarding a possible malpractice action against the physicians and health care providers involved in Laura's birth. Two attorneys and Laura's godfather, who is a physician, evaluated the case and found no basis for a medical malpractice action.
The Gilberts subsequently moved to New Mexico and continued to seek medical evaluation and treatment of their daughter's condition. After encountering great expense for spinal surgery Laura needed in 1990, the Gilberts again sought legal counsel in May 1991, regarding a possible medical malpractice action. This time their attorney advised them that there may have been deviation from the community standard of care during Laura's birth and that they did have a potential malpractice claim.
The Gilberts filed this action on Laura's behalf on April 13, 1992. The trial court dismissed the action on summary judgment, finding it barred by the statute of limitations set forth in RCW 4.16.350. The Gilberts appealed directly to this court, arguing that their action was not time barred and, if it was, that such a limitations period unconstitutionally deprived their daughter of legal redress.
The principal issue is whether the 1986 and 1987 amendments to the medical malpractice statute of limitations set forth in RCW 4.16.350 nullify the tolling effects of RCW 4.16.190 as applied to a minor.
RCW 4.16.190, the tolling statute, provides as follows:
If a person entitled to bring an action mentioned in this chapter . . . be at the time the cause of action accrued either under the age of eighteen years, or incompetent or disabled . . . the time of such disability shall not be a part of the time limited for the commencement of action.
Prior to the 1986 amendment, RCW 4.16.350 provided:
Any civil action for damages for injury occurring as a result of health care which is provided after June 25, 1976 against:
(1) . [A] physician . . .
(3) . [A] hospital . . . based upon alleged professional negligence shall be commenced within three years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or condition, or one year of the time the patient or his representative discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act or omission, whichever period expires later, except that in no event shall an action be commenced more than eight years after said act or omission . . . Provided, That the limitations in this section shall not apply to persons under a legal disability as defined in RCW 4.16.190.
(Italics added to show language that has been deleted.) Thus, before amendment, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims clearly was tolled during minority.
The 1986 amendment to RCW 4.16.350 deleted the language highlighted above and added the following:
For purposes of this section, notwithstanding RCW 4.16.190, the knowledge of a custodial parent or guardian shall be imputed to a person under the age of eighteen years
The 1987 amendment further added:
and such imputed knowledge shall operate to bar the claim of such minor to the same extent that the claim of an adult would be barred under this section. Any action not commenced in accordance with this section shall be barred.
For purposes of this section, with respect to care provided after June 25, 1976, and before August 1, 1986, the knowledge of a custodial parent or guardian shall be imputed as of April 29, 1987, to persons under the age of eighteen years.
The Gilberts contend that the tolling eifects of RCW 4.16.190 upon medical malpractice actions remain intact after the 1986 and 1987 amendments to RCW 4.16.350, while the Defendants maintain that the amendments repeal the tolling provisions of RCW 4.16.190 with regard to medical malpractice actions. The trial court agreed with the Defendants' interpretation of the amendments' eifect upon the continued applicability of the tolling statute to RCW 4.16.350.
The Legislature did not expressly repeal the operation of the tolling statute, RCW 4.16.190, when it imputed parental knowledge to minors in its 1986 and 1987 amendments to RCW 4.16.350. Further, this court has stated many times that the implicit repeal of statutes is strongly disfavored. Tollycraft Yachts Corp. v. McCoy, 122 Wn.2d 426, 439, 858 P.2d 503 (1993); State v. Greenwood, 120 Wn.2d 585, 593, 845 P.2d 971 (1993). Where an amendment may be harmonized with the existing provisions and purposes of a statutory scheme, there is no implicit repeal. Tollycraft Yachts, at 439; Bellevue Sch. Dist. 405 v. Brazier Constr. Co., 103 Wn.2d 111, 123, 691 P.2d 178 (1984). Stated another way, it is the duty of this court to construe two statutes dealing with the same subject matter so that the integrity of both will be maintained. Tacoma v. Cavanaugh, 45 Wn.2d 500, 503, 275 P.2d 933 (1954); see also Bour v. Johnson, 122 Wn.2d 829, 835, 864 P.2d 380 (1993).
We therefore must interpret the amendments to RCW 4.16.350 in such a way that the integrity of the tolling statute is preserved rather than destroyed. Such an interpretation supports the Gilberts' position. When read in harmony with the tolling statute, the limitations periods of RCW 4.16.350 are tolled until a minor reaches the age of majority, whereupon that minor is "charged" with whatever knowledge regarding a potential malpractice claim his or her parents or guardians possess. The additional language "shall operate to bar the claim . to the same extent . . . [as] an adult" then dictates that a minor to whom knowledge is imputed has only the time which an adult with knowledge would have to file a claim once the minor attains majority. RCW 4.16.350(3). With respect to a competent adult, RCW 4.16.350 requires a medical malpractice action to be commenced within three years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury, or within one year of the time that the plaintiff discovers that the injury was caused by said act or omission, whichever expires later. Where there is no knowledge, an adult has eight years to file a medical malpractice action. This interpretation gives effect to the language of both RCW 4.16.190 and RCW 4.16.350.
Our interpretation is also consistent with Merrigan v. Epstein, 112 Wn.2d 709, 716, 773 P.2d 78 (1989), in which this court also considered the interplay between the two statutes. The minor plaintiff there sought review of a trial court decision interpreting the 1986 and 1987 amendments to RCW 4.16.350. The trial court ruled that because the action had not been commenced within eight years of the date of the alleged act or omission the minor's claim was barred. Merrigan, at 714. This court reversed, holding that the action was not barred because the tolling statute, RCW 4.16.190, suspends the '8-years-from-act-or-omission period for the duration of the child's minority or incapacity". Merrigan, at 716.
The Defendants acknowledge that Merrigan supports our interpretation of the amendments to RCW 4.16.350 as applied to the eight-year statute of limitations, but point to language in the opinion contrary to our holding regarding the relationship between the tolling statute and the one-year and three-year limitation periods set forth in RCW 4.16.350. We note initially that any discussion of the one-year and three-year periods in Merrigan is dicta, since the issue in Merrigan was the impact of the amendments to RCW 4.16.350 upon the eight-year limitation period. Merrigan, at 711. We acknowledge, however, that despite the conclusion that the eight-year period is tolled, Merrigan suggests that the one-year and three-year statutes of limitation are not tolled during minority following the amendment of RCW 4.16.350. This suggestion apparently stems from the conclusion that the one-year and three-year periods alone are affected by the imputation of knowledge provisions set forth in the amendments.
This conclusion is not supportable. All of the limitation periods are interconnected, as the following example illustrates: A plaintiff with knowledge of a claim in the first year following the act or omission will have only three years from the date of the occurrence to bring an action since the three-year period will be the later of the two pertinent limitation periods of RCW 4.16.350. This plaintiff will not have eight years to bring this claim because he or she had knowledge within one year of the triggering clause. Thus, it is knowledge which deprives a plaintiff of the full eight-year limitation period. To the extent that Merrigan contains dicta to the contrary, it is disapproved.
In analyzing the effect of the 1986 and 1987 amendments to RCW 4.16.350 on the tolling statute, RCW 4.16.190, it is also important to recognize that the tolling provision operates without regard to knowledge. Thus, the statutory limitations periods of RCW 4.16.350 are tolled for a minor by virtue of age, not lack of knowledge of a claim.
Finally, the defendants cite Merrigan in suggesting that the dates provided in the final paragraph of the 1987 amendment to RCW 4.16.350 somehow show the Legislature's intent to abrogate the tolling provisions of RCW 4.16.190 with regard to medical malpractice claims. Here again, these dates are not pertinent to the resolution of the issues in Merrigan and the discussion therefore carries no weight in this case. In any event, these dates relate not to tolling but to the retroactivity of the imputation of knowledge provisions set forth in the 1987 amendment. This final paragraph provides that with respect to care provided between June 25, 1976, and August 1, 1986, knowledge shall be imputed as of April 29, 1987, the effective date of the 1987 amendment. The final paragraph makes no reference to the tolling statute and we will not read one into it. Nor will we read a repeal of the tolling provisions into any other section of RCW 4.16.350.
We therefore read RCW 4.16.350 in such a way that a minor's rights are preserved until the age of majority but, when knowledge is imputed, for a three-year period of time only. Such a reading gives effect to the language of both RCW 4.16.190 and RCW 4.16.350 and to the right of every citizen to seek redress for injuries sustained during minority.
Given our resolution of the relationship between RCW 4.16.190 and RCW 4.16.350, we need not address the other legal questions raised by the Gilberts, including the effect of Laura's mental incompetency on the tolling provisions set forth in RCW 4.16.190. Nor do we resolve the Gilberts' compelling argument that any other interpretation of the relationship between RCW 4.16.190 and RCW 4.16.350 would violate constitutional guaranties. We hereby reverse the trial court's order of summary judgment and order the Gilberts' cause of action reinstated.
Dolliver, Smith, and Johnson, JJ., and Brachtenbach and Utter, JJ. Pro Tern., concur.