Opinion ID: 884154
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Blue Mountain Clinic and Counselor Jane Doe

Text: Blackburn alleges negligence on the part of the Blue Mountain Clinic, by way of inadequate treatment she allegedly received from clinic counselor Jane Doe, in a number of respects. As she does with respect to several of the defendants in this case, Blackburn primarily contends the counselor failed to inform Blackburn that, because she was HIV negative her baby would not be born HIV positive, and, therefore, that an abortion was unnecessary. Blackburn additionally alleges the counselor failed to inform her of the risks associated with the abortion procedure, and provided her with substandard care in the days following the abortion. As noted above, § 27-2-102(3)(a), MCA, may toll the statute of limitations in a negligence case where the facts constituting the claim are self-concealing, thereby preventing their discovery by the plaintiff. We have previously addressed the nature of self-concealing injuries in the context of medical malpractice claims. See Grey v. Silver Bow County (1967), 149 Mont. 213, 217, 425 P.2d 819, 821 (infection introduced during surgery due to hospital's failure to use proper sterile techniques considered a self-concealing injury); Johnson v. St. Patrick's Hosp. (1966), 148 Mont. 125, 417 P.2d 469, aff'd after remand (1968), 152 Mont. 300, 448 P.2d 729. In 1987, the Montana Legislature amended § 27-2-102, MCA, to address the unique problems presented by self-concealing injuries. See § 27-2-102(3), MCA. In so doing, the Legislature specifically exempted application of § 27-2-102(3), MCA, to medical malpractice actions which are instead governed by the limitations period and tolling provisions codified at § 27-2-205, MCA. In order to properly calculate a particular statute of limitations period, it is necessary to determine the date that the period of limitations begins to run. In such circumstances, § 27-2-102(3)(a), MCA, protects plaintiffs against the harsh results of having their claim barred before they even know it exists. Our precise inquiry at this juncture, then, is whether Blackburn's injury is of a self-concealing nature, thereby bringing her claim for negligence within the protection afforded by § 27-2-102(3)(a), MCA. Here, the negligent act alleged by Blackburn is the withholding of accurate medical information by the Blue Mountain Clinic counselor. It is this alleged withholding of information which forms the basis for Blackburn's negligence claim. Nondisclosure of information is, by its nature, self-concealing. We conclude that the alleged facts upon which Blackburn's claim for negligence against the Blue Mountain Clinic counselor rests were, by their nature, self-concealing. So too, then, was the very nature of Blackburn's injury self-concealing. Blackburn could not have discovered she underwent an unnecessary abortion until she learned the counselor had withheld from her accurate medical information which Blackburn needed in order to make an informed decision regarding whether to obtain an abortion. In any event, Blue Mountain Clinic argues Blackburn failed to exercise due diligence in discovering her claim as required by the tolling provision at § 27-2-102(3), MCA. Under the facts alleged, however, we are unable to reach such a conclusion. After her abortion, Blackburn sought no additional advice regarding the risks of abortion or the transmission of HIV. Blackburn had no reason to suspect that the Blue Mountain Clinic counselor had provided her with inaccurate information. Under the facts as alleged by Blackburn, a trier of fact might find circumstances which warrant tolling the three-year negligence statute of limitations until the date by which it determines Blackburn, through due diligence, should have discovered that information withheld by the Blue Mountain Clinic counselor caused her to undergo an unnecessary abortion. As we note above, [a] complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of [her] claim which would entitle [her] to relief. Willson, 194 Mont. at 126, 634 P.2d at 1182. Here, it is conceivable that Blackburn could prove a set of facts which would warrant tolling the statute of limitations, and which would support a claim of negligence against the Blue Mountain Clinic counselor for her alleged failure to disclose the risks of abortion and the truth about HIV transmission. Based on the foregoing, we conclude the facts constituting select portions of Blackburn's claims for negligence against the counselor, and therefore against Blue Mountain Clinic itself, were self-concealing as contemplated by the tolling provision of § 27-2-102(3), MCA. We hold that the facts constituting Blackburn's claims of negligence were self-concealing to the extent that Blackburn alleges clinic counselor Jane Doe failed to disclose the risks of abortion and failed to reveal the truth about the transmission of HIV. Whether Blackburn may be able to demonstrate she exercised due diligence sufficient to trigger the tolling provision of § 27-2-102(3), MCA, cannot yet be determined. We additionally conclude that Blackburn's allegations that the clinic counselor provided her with substandard care in the days following the abortion are not of a self-concealing nature, and that the tolling provision of § 27-2-102(3), MCA, does not apply to these claims. Accordingly, we hold the District Court erred in concluding that, as a matter of law, § 27-2-204(1), MCA, precludes Blackburn's claims of negligence, based on the withholding of accurate medical information, against the Blue Mountain Clinic and its counselor. However, we hold the District Court properly concluded that § 27-2-204(1), MCA, precludes her claims of negligence based on allegedly substandard care she received following the abortion.