Opinion ID: 1985496
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: limitations and estoppel

Text: The statute of limitations bars actions brought more than 2 years after the date on which the claimant knew, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have known    of the existence of the injury. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 83, par. 22.1.) Initially, the trial court had held that plaintiff's cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations. Concluding on the record as it then existed  the pleadings, affidavits and answers to interrogatories  that the action would be barred unless the defendant was equitably estopped by his conduct from asserting the defense, this court ruled in Witherell I that the plaintiff was entitled to an opportunity to prove the allegations upon which the estoppel and her cause of action are based. ( Witherell v. Weimer (1981), 85 Ill.2d 146, 160.) On remand, the jury was instructed on both the statute of limitations and equitable estoppel and returned a general verdict for the plaintiff. In the appellate court, as here, the defendant argued that the trial judge erred in failing to order separate trials as to the statute of limitations and liability issues and that, in any event, the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. The appellate court did not address these questions because of its conclusion that Witherell I had already determined that the defendant was equitably estopped from asserting the limitations bar. Although there is some language in Witherell I which, taken out of context, may have suggested this result, this court held only that dismissal was improper and that the plaintiff should have a chance to prove the basis for the estoppel. (85 Ill.2d 146, 160.) The parties agree that the appellate court erred in finding this question precluded by prior adjudication. Defendant contends, though, that he was entitled to a bifurcated trial with separate juries on the limitations and liability questions. The defendant correctly notes that his position on the statute of limitations was inconsistent with his posture on liability. To prove the defense, the defendant had to show that, more than two years before plaintiff's complaint was filed on January 4, 1978, she knew or should have known of her injury and either knew or should have known that it was wrongfully caused. ( Witherell v. Weimer (1981), 85 Ill.2d 146, 156.) Of course, to establish that the plaintiff should have known that the injury was wrongful in origin would practically amount to a concession by the defendant on the questions of both his negligence and causation. According to the defendant it was manifestly unfair to place him in this no-win position that made it impossible to effectively argue the statute of limitations. We know of no principle of law requiring a bifurcated trial. It was the defendant's insistence on maintaining two lines of defense in this case that put him in this situation, and the trial judge was not obliged to take unreasonable measures to increase the defendant's ultimate chances of success. Defendant's request for a bifurcated trial was properly denied. The defendant next contends that the jury's findings  that the action was not barred by the statute of limitations or that the defendant was estopped from asserting the bar  were against the manifest weight of the evidence. Because the defendant did not submit special interrogatories, there is no way of knowing whether the jury found that the defendant failed to prove plaintiff's discovery of her cause of action more than two years prior to filing the complaint or whether it was proved but the defendant was estopped from asserting it. When there is a general verdict and more than one theory is presented, the verdict will be upheld if there was sufficient evidence to sustain either theory, and the defendant, having failed to request special interrogatories, cannot complain. (See Moore v. Jewel Tea Co. (1970), 46 Ill.2d 288, 294; Fernandez v. Industrial Com. (1978), 71 Ill.2d 283.) We need address only the estoppel issue. The defendant is estopped from asserting the limitations bar if the plaintiff's failure to act within the statutory period results from reasonable reliance on the defendant's conduct or representations. ( Witherell v. Weimer (1981), 85 Ill.2d 146, 159.) An intent to mislead, deceive or delay is not necessary. (85 Ill.2d 146, 159.) The evidence discloses that plaintiff was diagnosed as having thrombophlebitis when she was hospitalized in both 1967 and 1972. Dr. Weimer testified that he told her during the 1972 hospitalization that there was a statistical correlation between birth control pills and thrombophlebitis and that there was a controversy in the scientific community on the question of causation. He said he gave the plaintiff his opinion at that time that the blood clots she had experienced in 1967 and again in 1972 were due to trauma and immobility and that the pill had nothing to do with the problem. He left it up to her whether or not to continue taking the pill. According to Dr. Weimer, he told the plaintiff during the 1972 hospitalization that she had a mild case of thrombophlebitis and that she had also had a case in 1967. According to the plaintiff, she broached the subject of birth control pills with Dr. Weimer a couple of weeks after the July 1972 hospitalization. She had talked with her mother and overheard other women in the hospital saying that someone with blood clots should not take birth control pills. Plaintiff testified that Dr. Weimer laughed and told her that birth control pills would not harm her in any way and that her fears were based on an old wives' tale. After a chiropractor advised her in 1974 that she should talk to Dr. Weimer about cutting down some of the medications she was taking, she again asked Dr. Weimer about the connection between her ailments and the pill. The plaintiff testified that Dr. Weimer again laughed and said that they had previously discussed the pill and that the pill did not harm her but seemed to be on her mind; he suggested there were other methods of birth control available. The plaintiff's account, and to an extent even the defendant's, supports a conclusion that the defendant made representations to her that tended to alleviate her concerns about the birth control pill and consequently delayed any action on her part to seek relief. That the defendant also denied much of the plaintiff's testimony does not render a finding for the plaintiff against the manifest weight of the evidence. The jury heard the evidence and was entitled to credit the plaintiff. Citing Dill v. Widman (1952), 413 Ill. 448, the defendant argues, however, that he can only be estopped if the plaintiff had no knowledge of or convenient means of knowing the true facts concerning the birth control pill. But this asserted requirement is simply an aspect of the reasonableness of a patient's reliance. A physician and his patient stand in a fiduciary relation, and the patient normally reposes a great deal of trust and confidence in the doctor, accepting his recommendations without question. ( Witherell v. Weimer (1981), 85 Ill.2d 146, 159.) Regardless of what the plaintiff may have heard, we believe that in this context she was entitled to rely on her physician's opinion, and the defendant cannot avoid estoppel by pointing to other sources that the plaintiff could have consulted. In a related contention, the defendant claims that the trial judge erred in failing to instruct the jury on the four-year statute of repose. In addition to the two-year statute of limitations, which commences to run with the plaintiff's discovery, an action is barred if brought more than 4 years after the date on which occurred the act or omission or occurrence alleged to have caused the injury. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 83, par. 22.1.) We find no reversible error in the trial court's refusal to instruct on the statute of repose because the principle of equitable estoppel applies to the repose period as well as the limitations period.