Opinion ID: 1850917
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: prescription against joint and solidary obligors

Text: Nurse Hahn has argued in this court that, even if the continuous treatment principle applies in this case to suspend prescription against Dr. Hill and IMG Healthcare, Ms. Noe's medical malpractice claim against Nurse Hahn is nevertheless barred by prescription because it was not filed within one year of the date of the injection, June 11, 2001, and Ms. Noe has not alleged that Nurse Hahn provided any treatment, continuing or otherwise, to Ms. Noe, after that date. The majority has accepted that argument and found that Ms. Noe's claims against Nurse Hahn, as well as Ms. Noe's vicarious liability claims against Dr. Hill, are barred by prescription. The majority's finding that Ms. Noe's claim against Nurse Hahn is prescribed, despite the fact that her claim against Dr. Hill has not prescribed, fails to give proper effect to La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a), which provides as follows: The filing of a request for review of a claim shall suspend the running of prescription against all joint and solidary obligors, and all joint tortfeasors, including but not limited to health care providers, both qualified and not qualified, to the same extent that prescription is suspended against the party or parties that are the subject of the request for review. Pursuant to the express language of La. Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a), when a request for review of a medical malpractice claim has been timely filed, that request suspends prescription against all joint and solidary obligors to the same extent prescription is suspended against the subject of the request [i.e., the complained of medical provider], even if those joint and solidary obligors are not named in the request. According to La. Civ.Code art. 2324(B), liability for damages caused by two or more persons shall be a joint and divisible obligation. [5] Under the facts of this case, as alleged by Ms. Noe, Nurse Hahn is clearly a solidary obligor with Dr. Hill. It was allegedly Nurse Hahn's direct negligence of administering the Celestone injection in the wrong location or in an improper manner that initially caused Ms. Noe's damages. Thereafter, Ms. Noe consulted Dr. Hill about the problems allegedly caused by the injection, and he allegedly told Ms. Noe that she had experienced an allergic reaction or a muscular injury that could be resolved by undertaking a one-year exercise program. Dr. Hill then continued to treat Ms. Noe for some nine months, seeking to resolve the specific medical problem allegedly caused by the injection that Nurse Hahn had improperly administered. Thus, Ms. Noe's damages in this case were allegedly caused by two or more persons  Nurse Hahn and Dr. Hill. I would find that Ms. Noe's allegations outlined above, if proven after trial of this matter, are sufficient to support a judgment that Ms. Noe's damages were caused by two or more persons  i.e., Dr. Hill and Nurse Hahn, and thus that Dr. Hill and Nurse Hahn are jointly liable for those damages. In order to properly interpret the second sentence of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a), some historical perspective is helpful. The medical malpractice statute has, since the original adoption of the Medical Malpractice Act by the 1975 Louisiana Legislature, included a requirement that all medical malpractice claims be submitted to a medical review panel prior to the filing of suit and has also provided for suspension of prescription until 90 days after issuance of the medical review panel's opinion. However, the second sentence of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47 at issue here, which suspends prescription against all joint and solidary obligors when prescription has been suspended against one of them, was not added until 1991. [6] The original 1991 amendment provided only that the filing of a request for review of a medical malpractice claim shall suspend the running of prescription against all solidary obligors, and did not mention joint obligors or joint tortfeasors. The provision was then amended by the 1997 Louisiana Legislature to include today's language that joint obligors/tortfeasors are persons against whom prescription is suspended as a result of the filing of a request for review of a medical malpractice claim. The current language, quoted above, has been in the statute since 1997. Prior to the 1991 adoption of the second sentence of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a), which includes a specific suspension principle applicable to solidary obligors, Louisiana law contained no express provision governing the effect of the timely filing of a medical malpractice claim against a joint or solidary obligor on medical malpractice claims against other joint or solidary obligors. However, the general tort law did contain a number of such provisions governing interruption of prescription against joint or solidary obligors by the filing of suit against one or more such joint or solidary obligors. See La. Civ.Code arts. 1799, [7] La. Civ.Code art. 2324(C), [8] and La. Civ.Code art. 3503. [9] Prior to the adoption of the suspension principle applicable to solidary obligors in medical malpractice cases, this court held in Hebert v. Doctors Memorial Hospital, 486 So.2d 717 (La.1986), that prescription in medical malpractice cases could be interrupted against joint and solidary obligors pursuant to the general tort rules by the filing of a medical malpractice claim against another solidary obligor. See Whitnell v. Menville, 540 So.2d 304, 308 (La.1989). Further, despite the adoption of the suspension principles relative to solidary and joint obligors/tortfeasors in medical malpractice cases, several Louisiana cases decided since the adoption of those provisions have continued the practice of applying the principles developed by Louisiana courts to interpret the interruption principles set forth in general tort law to determine whether a medical malpractice claim has been timely filed against a joint or solidary obligor with the health care provider named in the original complaint. See, e.g., Geiger v. State ex rel. Dept. of Health & Hosp., 01-2206 (La.4/12/02), 815 So.2d 80; Pfiffner v. Correa, 9102734 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1/13/94), 640 So.2d 281. Specifically, in Geiger, this court stated that prescription cannot be suspended after it has run, then cited a case that stated only that prescription cannot be interrupted after it has run. 01-2206 at 5, 815 So.2d at 83. In Pfiffner, the court noted generally that prescription as to one solidary obligor is suspended pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a) by the filing of a medical review claim against any other solidary obligor, but then held that as long as a suit was pending prescription was interrupted as to the other solidary obligors. Neither of those cases clearly distinguish between suspension of prescription and interruption of prescription. The only Louisiana case I have found that directly addresses the effect of the portion of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a) that suspends prescription against joint and solidary obligors/tortfeasors is Masters v. Fields, 27924, 27925 (La.App.2d Cir.1/24/96), 666 So.2d 1333. In Masters, the court of appeal addressed both whether prescription had been interrupted against an alleged solidary obligor in a medical malpractice case under the general tort law and whether prescription had been suspended against that solidary obligor under La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a). First, the court of appeal found that prescription was not interrupted pursuant to general tort law because a medical malpractice action against one alleged solidary obligor does not have the effect of interrupting prescription that has already run against another alleged solidary obligor. Id. at 6, 666 So.2d at 1337, citing Whitnell, 540 So.2d 304. The court went on to find that the plaintiff's filing of a medical malpractice complaint against one solidary obligor did not suspend prescription as to another pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a). The reason for this finding was summarily stated as follows: We conclude that LSA-R.S. 40:1299:47(A)(2)(a) cannot save plaintiff's claim because if prescription cannot be interrupted once it has accrued, a fortiori, neither can it be suspended. Id. In short, despite the fact the Masters court did distinguish between interruption and suspension of prescription, it ultimately applied a jurisprudential rule developed for cases applying the interruption of prescription principle set forth in general tort law to the suspension of prescription principle set forth in La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a). Application of that rule was made by the Masters court without citation to any authority and without any analysis of the similarities and differences between interruption of prescription under general tort law and suspension of prescription under La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a). For the reasons set forth below, I disagree with the statement of the court of appeal in Masters that, if prescription cannot been interrupted, it cannot be suspended. First, I note that this court held in LeBreton, 97-2221, 714 So.2d 1226, that the specific statutory provision providing for the suspension of prescription in the context of medical malpractice [must be] applied alone, not complementary to the more general codal article which addresses interruption of prescription. Id. at 2, 714 So.2d at 1227 (emphases added). The primary issue in LeBreton did not concern the portion of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a) that extends a suspension of prescription against one joint or solidary obligor to all joint and solidary obligors. Rather, the primary issue was whether a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action could file a premature lawsuit in a court of competent jurisdiction, then file a request for a medical review panel, thereby taking advantage of both the interruption of prescription triggered by the filing of suit and the suspension of prescription triggered by the filing of the request for review of a medical malpractice claim. Nevertheless, this court found in LeBreton that the more general codal article which addresses interruption of prescription should not be applied in medical malpractice cases, because such cases are expressly governed by the suspension of prescription rule set forth in La.Rev. Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a). That finding in LeBreton demonstrates that application of principles developed in cases interpreting interruption of prescription to this case, which involves suspension of prescription under La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a), is inappropriate. It follows that the court of appeal in Masters improperly applied a rule developed to interpret interruption of prescription to decide whether plaintiff's claim against the alleged solidary obligor had been suspended. A second reason I disagree with the court's treatment of the suspension issue in Masters is grounded in the fact that important distinctions exist between interruption of prescription and suspension of prescription, despite the fact they are often treated by Louisiana courts as though they were the same. See the above discussion of Geiger, Masters and Pfiffner. The Louisiana Civil Code provides that prescription is interrupted in three ways. Pursuant to La. Civ.Code art. 3462, prescription is interrupted (1) by the filing of suit or (2) by the service of process. Further, La. Civ.Code art. 3464 provides for interruption of prescription, (3), by acknowledgment. Thus, when suit has been filed, when process has been served, or when a right has been acknowledged, prescription is interrupted, the time that has run is not counted, and [p]rescription commences to run anew from the last day of the interruption. La. Civ.Code art. 3466. Planiol and Ripert described the effect of interruption of prescription as follows: where the suit is introduced in time, the court in giving its judgment, should refer back to the beginning of the suit in order to determine the rights of the parties. 1 Planiol and Ripert, No. 2692, reprinted in 1 Treatise on the Civil Law, part 2, 592. On the other hand, suspension of prescription is triggered, typically not because of some specific action taken by the plaintiff, as occurs when prescription is interrupted, but because of the existence of a relationship of trust between the plaintiff and defendant. This conclusion is evident in the provisions of La. Civ.Code art. 3469, which provides that prescription is suspended as between: the spouses during marriage, parents and children during minority, tutors and minors during tutorship, [] curators and interdicts during interdiction, and caretakers and minors during minority. According to Planiol and Ripert, [s]uspension is a measure of equity, invented through regard for certain persons who are not in a position to interrupt prescription when it is running against them. 1 Planiol and Ripert, No. 2698, reprinted in 1 Treatise on the Civil Law, part 2, 594. Further, the causes of suspension are founded precisely on the same principle as the initial delay . . . for the period of prescription: the impossibility to act. Id. at No. 680, reprinted in 1 Treatise on the Civil Law, part 2, 368. Reference to the above authorities reveals that the policies underlying the civilian doctrines of interruption of prescription and suspension of prescription are very different. According to Planiol and Ripert, the purpose of interruption of prescription is, in the case of a successful lawsuit, to fix the rights of the parties at the time prescription is interrupted by the filing of suit, the service of process, or acknowledgment of a right. The purpose of suspension, however, is to protect the rights of parties who are unable to take an action that will interrupt prescription. 1 Plainol and Ripert, No. 2698, reprinted in 1 Treatise on the Civil Law, part 2, 594. Given the vast difference in the policies underlying the two doctrines, the jurisprudential rules applicable to interruption of prescription should not be applied to determine whether prescription has been suspended. For this reason also, the court of appeal's adoption in Masters of an interruption principle to interpret a statutory suspension provision was improper. La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a) expressly provides for suspension of prescription against all unnamed joint and solidary obligors/tortfeasors when prescription has been suspended against at least one joint or solidary obligor by virtue of the timely filing of a medical malpractice review complaint. The majority has found in this case that, despite the fact that Ms. Noe did not file her request for review of her medical malpractice claim against Dr. Hill and IMG Healthcare until more than a year after the injection, her request was timely by virtue of the continuous treatment doctrine, the operation of which rendered Ms. Noe legally unable to file suit until the doctor-patient relationship terminated. Under the express language of the second sentence of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a), the timely filing of Ms. Noe's request for review against Dr. Hill suspended the running of prescription against all of his joint obligors/tortfeasors, including Nurse Hahn, to the same extent prescription was suspended against Dr. Hill. Thus, I would find that Ms. Noe was free to amend her petition to add Nurse Hahn as an additional defendant, jointly liable with Dr. Hill, at any time within 90 days following notification of the issuance of the medical review panel opinion. Because no medical review panel opinion had been issued prior to the trial on the exception of prescription in this case, Ms. Noe's amended Medical Malpractice Complaint naming Nurse Hahn as a defendant for the first time was timely when filed on October 23, 2003, pursuant to the express language of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a). This interpretation of the language of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a) fulfills this court's obligation to strictly construe prescriptive statutes against prescription and in favor of the obligation sought to be extinguished, and to adopt, of two possible constructions, the one that favors maintaining as opposed to barring the action. Carter, 04-0646 at 10, 892 So.2d at 1269. My interpretation of La.Rev.Stat. 40:1299.47(A)(2)(a) also serves the policy considerations underlying suspension of prescription in general. According to Planiol and Ripert, the primary principle underlying the suspension doctrine is the same as the principle underlying the initial delay in a period of prescriptioni.e., the impossibility to act. 1 Planiol and Ripert at No. 680, reprinted in 1 Civil Law Treatise, part 2, 368. Because it is impossible to act, prescription does not run so long as it is suspended. Id. If prescription did not run [or begin to run] during the time Ms. Noe was involved in a continuous treatment relationship with Dr. Hill, her claim against Nurse Hahn cannot be barred by prescription. From a practical point of view, when two health care providers are alleged to be jointly or solidarily liable for the plaintiff's damages caused by medical malpractice, a finding that prescription was suspended against one, but not the other, as the majority has found in this case, is inequitable and unworkable because it places the plaintiff in an untenable position. In fact, the majority's finding that Ms. Noe's claim against Nurse Hahn is prescribed necessarily presupposes that Ms. Noe should have had the foresight to file her request for review against Nurse Hahn within one year of the date of the injection. However, for most of that year, Ms. Noe was participating in an on-going relationship of trust with Dr. Hill, who ordered the injection as Nurse Hahn's supervisor. Because Nurse Hahn was acting on the orders of Dr. Hill when she administered the injection to Ms. Noe, any suit against Nurse Hahn would logically have to include Dr. Hill as a defendant. Thus, the majority's decision places Ms. Hill in the unenviable position of having to choose whether to risk the loss of her rights against Nurse Hahn or terminate her relationship of trust with Dr. Hill by filing suit against Dr. Hill and Nurse Hahn. And, Ms. Noe is required to make this choice during a period of time when she is considered to be legally unable to file her suit against Dr. Hill because of the on-going continuous treatment relationship in which they were involved, a relationship that serves to prevent prescription from running. Thus, the result of the majority's finding that Ms. Noe's claim against Nurse Hahn is prescribed is that the continuing treatment doctrine has no practical effect in cases where the plaintiff's damages were allegedly caused by the joint or solidary liability of more than one health care provider, only one of whom is providing continuous treatment. I would decline to limit the continuous treatment doctrine in such a way that the plaintiff is placed in that position. For the reasons stated herein, I would find that the court of appeal correctly denied the exception of prescription filed by Nurse Hahn. Thus, I dissent from the portion of the majority decision that finds that Ms. Noe's medical malpractice claim against Nurse Hahn and her vicarious liability claims against Dr. Hill are prescribed. I would affirm the court of appeal decision in its entirety. KIMBALL, J. concurring in part and dissenting in part. While I agree that the claim against Nurse Hahn is prescribed and that the vicarious liability claim against Dr. Hill arising under the doctrine of respondeat superior is also prescribed, I dissent from the court's conclusion that the introduction of Ms. Noe's affidavit and deposition at the hearing on the exception of prescription expanded the pleadings to include a claim against Dr. Hill arising out of his own independent negligence. VICTORY, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part. I concur in the portion of the per curiam opinion finding that the claim against Nurse Hahn is prescribed and the vicarious liability claim against Dr. Hill is prescribed. I dissent from the portion of the opinion which holds that plaintiff has asserted a claim against Dr. Hill for his own independent negligence in treating plaintiff and that such claim has not prescribed. In my view, the continuous treatment rule developed and applied in Carter v. Haygood, 04-0646 (La.1/19/95), 892 So.2d 1261, is wrong and does not operate to suspend prescription in this medical malpractice case, filed well after one year from the date of any alleged malpractice. Thus, I respectfully concur in part and dissent in part. KNOLL, J., dissenting in part and concurring in part. I dissent, in part, and concur, in part, for the reasons assigned by Calogero, C.J.