Court Opinion

ID: 9613324
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:16:08.671688+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:28.035955
License: Public Domain

Carley, Judge.
Appellant-plaintiffs in the instant medical malpractice action are husband and wife. On September 3, 1982, they went to the office of appellee-defendant physician for the administration of a medical injection that each was receiving on a regular basis. The injections were given by appellee’s nurse. According to appellants, the shots were more painful than usual. Approximately five days later, Mrs. Gillis discovered that a knot had formed in the portion of her left hip where she had been injected. Approximately five days after his wife’s discovery, Mr. Gillis also discovered that he had a knot on his left hip where the shot had been administered.
On October 4, 1982, Mrs. Gillis returned to appellee for treatment of an abscess that had formed on her left hip. This treatment by appellee continued until November 11, 1982. On October 25, 1982, Mr. Gillis returned to appellee for treatment of an abscess that had developed on his left hip. His treatment likewise continued until November 11, 1982. On November 18,1982, Mrs. Gillis sought treatment from another physician for her abscess. Surgery was performed and the abscess subsequently healed. His wife’s new physician also performed successful surgery on Mr. Gillis’ abscessed hip.
Appellants filed the instant medical malpractice action on October 1, 1984, more than two years after they had been administered the injections by appellee’s nurse. Appellee subsequently moved for summary judgment. In opposition to the motion, appellants filed their own affidavits and that of a medical expert. In his affidavit, Mr. Gillis stated that, during his treatment by appellee for the abscess, he had been told by appellee that “there was no problem.” The trial court heard the motion for summary judgment and found that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to negligence in the injections of appellants. However, the trial court also found that appellants “should have known of the allegedly negligent treatment during the month of *609September, 1982,” and that they had not shown any fraud within the meaning of OCGA § 9-3-96 so as to toll the two-year statute of limitation for medical malpractice. OCGA § 9-3-71. Accordingly, the trial court granted appellee’s motion for summary judgment on the basis of his statute of limitation defense. Appellants appeal from the grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee.
1. The statute of limitation for medical malpractice is clear and unambiguous: “Except as otherwise provided in this article, an action for medical malpractice shall be brought within two years after the date on which the negligent or wrongful act or omission occurred.” (Emphasis supplied.) OCGA § 9-3-71. The acts upon which appellants base their claim occurred on September 3, 1982, more than two years before the instant action was filed. OCGA § 9-3-71 “has the effect, in many cases, of cutting off rights before there is any knowledge of injury. Nonetheless, the legislature has the power, within constitutional limitations, to make such provisions.” Allrid v. Emory Univ., 249 Ga. 35, 37 (285 SE2d 521) (1982). In Shessel v. Stroup, 253 Ga. 56, 59 (316 SE2d 155) (1984), our Supreme Court held “that OCGA § 9-3-71 is a denial of equal protection and therefore unconstitutional as applied to personal injury claims in which injury occurs more than two years after the negligent or wrongful act or omission occurred.” (Emphasis supplied.) Defining the “injuries” in the instant case as the abscesses which developed on appellants’ hips, those injuries occurred within weeks of the injections. Accordingly, Shessel v. Stroup, supra, is not authority for holding that OCGA § 9-3-71 may not be constitutionally applied as a bar to appellants’ claims. Moreover, the date the statute began to run is not altered by the fact that appellants may not have “discovered” that the injections had injured them until some time in October of 1982, when they returned to appellee for treatment of their abscessed hips. “The use of the discovery rule in medical malpractice cases was foreclosed in Georgia by statute prescribing that such actions must be brought within two years of the date of the negligent or wrongful act or omission. [Cits.]” Lumbermen’s Mut. Cas. Co. v. Pattillo Constr. Co., 254 Ga. 461, 464, fn. 6 (330 SE2d 344) (1985).
The terms of the applicable statute of limitation are clear. If that statute has no force and effect in the instant case, where the only alleged injuries occurred within weeks of the underlying treatment, it has no force and effect in any medical malpractice case. However, the Supreme Court has held that the statute is valid “within constitutional limitations. . . .” Allrid v. Emory Univ., supra at 37. This court has no jurisdiction to declare a statute of this State unconstitutional. Accordingly, we hold that the statute of limitation on appellants’ claims began to run on September 3, 1982, and not on any later date of “discovery” which was within the subsequent two-year period.
*6102. The only remaining issue is whether the statute of limitation was tolled by reason of fraud. Appellee did not administer the shots, his nurse did. The only conceivable “act of fraud” on appellee’s part perceived from a review of the entire record on summary judgment is that portion of the affidavit of Mr. Gillis stating that appellee told him “there was no problem.” It is to be recognized that this statement by appellee was made during the course of treatment of the abscess on Mr. Gillis’ hip and there is absolutely no indication that appellee said anything else to “lull” his patients into a sense of complacency. Neither is there any indication of “concealment” by appellee. In this connection, even assuming that appellee’s “no problem” statement was sufficient to create a factual issue as to his fraud, such statement was made only to Mr. Gillis and, thus, it would not be a basis for tolling the statute of limitation as to Mrs. Gillis’ claim.
Stephen W. Brown Radiology Assoc. v. Gowers, 157 Ga. App. 770 (278 SE2d 653) (1981) is clearly distinguishable because, therein, the doctor advised the patient that what he was suffering “was a normal reaction.” Nothing of similar import appears in the instant case. In Sutlive v. Hackney, 164 Ga. App. 740 (297 SE2d 515) (1982), the alleged negligence of the doctor was not a single injection such as involved here. Rather, in Sutlive, the doctor injected “the saline solution into the apparently self-contained silicone sacs ...” and “repeated this procedure twice — five months after the first injection and then one year and nine months later.” Sutlive v. Hackney, supra, 743. Based upon the factual circumstances appearing of record in Sutlive, the majority of this court held: “Even if, at the time, appellant believed his assurance to have been true when he told appellee that the injection would not cause leakage, his undisputed course of conduct following the first injection provides a reasonable inference that he may have had knowledge of the leakage and acted with the follow-up injections to conceal the problem.” Sutlive v. Hackney, supra, 743. In the case at bar, there is absolutely nothing from which we can make any inference that appellee had any knowledge of improper conduct on his part or that he tried to cover up such conduct in any way.
In this case, both appellants noted that upon receiving the injection, the shots were more painful than usual. It is also to be observed that Mr. and Mrs. Gillis had received such injections at regular intervals, and thus had a basis for comparison. Furthermore, Mrs. Gillis noted a knot on her left hip within five days from the injection, and a similar knot appeared on Mr. Gillis’ hip within ten days of the injection. Thus, at least as early as ten days following the alleged negligent act, the appellants were aware of facts sufficient to require that they exercise ordinary care and diligence. “There is nothing in the record to suggest that [appellants were] prevented from learning of [appel*611lee’s] alleged negligence or from discovering [his] alleged fraud [during the month of September, 1982].” Shved v. Daly, 174 Ga. App. 209, 211 (329 SE2d 536) (1985). The trial court correctly ruled that appellants’ action was barred by the statute of limitation.

Judgment affirmed.

Deen, P. J., Sognier, Benham, and Beasley, JJ., concur. Banke, C. J., McMurray, P. J., Birdsong, P. J., and Pope, J., dissent.