Opinion ID: 2645882
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 120-Day Extension

Text: We next consider Mr. Rajvongs’ argument that Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(c) extends the one-year saving statute by an additional 120 days and so allows for the timely filing of his February 18, 2011 complaint. Section 29-26-121(c) provides that: When notice is given to a provider as provided in this section, the applicable statutes of limitations and repose shall be extended for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of expiration of the statute of limitations and statute of repose applicable to that provider . . . . In no event shall . . . more than one (1) extension be applicable to any provider. -5- Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(c). The plain language of subsection (c) provides that pre-suit notice is the only prerequisite to receiving the automatic extension of the statutes of limitations or repose. Mr. Rajvongs attempted to comply with the newly enacted requirement of section 29-26-121(a)(1) by providing pre-suit notice to Dr. Wright on October 21, 2010. Dr. Wright has not objected to Mr. Rajvongs’ notice or otherwise challenged its adequacy. Instead, Dr. Wright asserts that Mr. Rajvongs’ pre-suit notice did not extend the saving statute by 120 days. Section 29-26-121(c) extends the “applicable statutes of limitations or repose.” The Act defines “statute of limitations” as being either one year from the date of the injury or one year from the date of discovery. Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-116(a)(1)-(2).2 Similarly, the Act defines “statute of repose” and provides that “[i]n no event shall any such action be brought more than three (3) years after the date on which the negligent act or omission occurred . . . .” Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-116(a)(3). Mr. Rajvongs’ initial complaint was filed within the statute of limitations as that term is defined in section 29-26-116(a)(1). Mr. Rajvongs’ initial complaint also preceded the 2008 and 2009 pre-suit notice requirements, and he voluntarily dismissed his action on November 13, 2009. Mr. Rajvongs attempted to comply with the Act’s new notice requirement by providing Dr. Wright with pre-suit notice on October 21, 2010, by which time the “statute of limitations” and “statute of repose” applicable to his case had expired. Nevertheless, Mr. Rajvongs provided pre-suit notice prior to filing his second complaint, relying on his pre-suit notice to extend the saving statute by 120 days. Mr. Rajvongs accordingly falls within the narrow category of plaintiffs who filed their initial complaints prior to the effective date of section 29-26-121, dismissed their original actions, and refiled their actions after the effective date of the statute. We must therefore 2 Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-116 provides in pertinent part: (a) (1) The statute of limitations in health care liability actions shall be one (1) year as set forth in § 28-3-104. (2) In the event the alleged injury is not discovered within such one-year period, the period of limitation shall be one (1) year from the date of such discovery. (3) In no event shall any such action be brought more than three (3) years after the date on which the negligent act or omission occurred except where there is fraudulent concealment on the part of the defendant, in which case the action shall be commenced within one (1) year after discovery that the cause of action exists. -6- determine whether these “transitional” plaintiffs who gave pre-suit notice are entitled to the 120-day extension although their original statutes of limitations and repose have expired. The Act contains no language explicitly addressing the refiling of nonsuited health care liability action, nor does it contain any language that can be fairly construed as amending the saving statute. Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-1-105. A careful review of the Act and its subsequent amendments confirms that the requirements and procedures for refiling nonsuited health care liability cases are unchanged. In Myers v. AMISUB, however, we were asked to consider whether the pre-suit notice requirement applied to a transitional plaintiff. Mr. Myers, like Mr. Rajvongs, filed his original health care liability action prior to the effective date of section 29-26-121. Myers, 382 S.W.3d at 304. Mr. Myers timely refiled his action within the one-year saving statute and after the effective date of section 29-26-121. Myers, 382 S.W.3d at 304. Mr. Myers, however, did not give pre-suit notice to his health care providers. Myers, 382 S.W.3d at 304. Interpreting the statute using our ordinary canons of construction, we examined the language of section 29-26-121 and determined that the General Assembly did not exempt transitional plaintiffs from complying with the newly enacted pre-suit notice requirement although no notice was required before the original complaint was filed. Myers, 382 S.W.3d at 308-09. We were not, however, asked to consider the 120-day extension granted by subsection (c) or its “applicable statutes of limitations or repose” language. See Tenn. Code Ann. 29-26-121(c). We have long recognized that the saving statute is not a statute of limitations or a statute of repose and that it operates independently. See Pratcher v. Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hosps., 407 S.W.3d 727, 737 (Tenn. 2013) (recognizing that the statute of repose had been “harmonized” with the saving statute”) (citing Cronin, 906 S.W.2d at 914-15); Sharp v. Richardson, 937 S.W.2d 846, 848 (Tenn. 1996) (noting that the saving statute permits the refiling of a health care liability action even if the refiling occurs beyond the three-year statute of repose). However, a transitional plaintiff is not necessarily precluded from receiving the 120-day extension simply because section 29-26-121(c) makes no explicit reference to the saving statute. Clearly, the General Assembly enacted the 120-day extension to offset the obligation to give pre-suit notice at least 60 days prior to filing a complaint. In Myers, we properly interpreted the plain language of the statute as requiring transitional plaintiffs to give notice before refiling a nonsuited action because the defendants have never been provided with the notice that is contemplated under the Act. Myers, 382 S.W.3d at 309-10. We are unable to conclude that the General Assembly would require transitional plaintiffs to provide pre-suit notice before refiling under the saving statute and yet deprive such plaintiffs of the 120-day -7- extension. Considering the statutory scheme in its entirety, we can only conclude that a transitional plaintiff who properly provides pre-suit notice is entitled to the same procedural benefits that section 29-26-121(c) makes available to a plaintiff filing an initial health care liability complaint.