Court Opinion

ID: 9677515
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:54:11.618635+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:56.514032
License: Public Domain

CORNYN, Justice,
delivered the opinion of the Court,
joined by GONZALEZ, HIGHTOWER, GAMMAGE, ENOCH and SPECTOR, Justices.
OWEN, Justice, joined by PHILLIPS, Chief Justice, and HECHT, Justice, dissenting.
We granted the application for writ of error in this ease to decide whether the statute of limitations contained in section 10.01 of the Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act (Medical Liability Act)1 can be constitutionally applied to the malpractice claim of a minor under the open courts provision of the Texas Constitution. The court of appeals, relying on our decision in Sax v. Votteler, 648 S.W.2d 661 (Tex.1983), held that section 10.01 of the Medical Liability Act is unconstitutional as applied to minors, who are under legal disability from bringing suit on their own behalf. 871 S.W.2d 542, 543. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals, and remand this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In May 1988, Dr. Bruce Weiner performed surgery on Emmanuel Wasson, who was then fifteen years old. The surgery required insertion of surgical pins into Wasson’s right femur. On his last visit in June 1988, Was-son complained to Weiner of constant pain in his hip and of his need for crutches. In August 1988, Wasson saw another physician, who took x-rays of his hip. The x-rays showed that one of the surgical pins was protruding into Wasson’s right hip joint. Wasson later underwent two additional surgeries, but they did not relieve his constant pain. Wasson turned eighteen on December 16, 1990, and a few months later underwent surgery for the total replacement of his right hip.
On August 25,1992, Wasson filed suit against Weiner, alleging that Weiner’s negligence caused the painful destruction of his right hip joint and necessitated the hip replacement surgery. Weiner moved for summary judgment on two grounds. Weiner first urged that section 10.01 of the Medical Liability Act, which establishes a two-year statute of limitations for health care liability claims, barred Wasson’s claim. Weiner also argued that even if the limitations period was tolled during Wasson’s minority, Wasson’s claim was nevertheless barred because Was-son failed to file suit within a “reasonable time” after attaining majority. The trial court granted Weiner’s motion for summary judgment without specifying the grounds. The court of appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that our opinion in Sax compels the conclusion that section 10.01 of the Medical Liability Act is unconstitutional as applied to minors.2
I
We begin our inquiry by reviewing the history of the medical malpractice statute of limitations in Texas. In 1975, as part of the Professional Liability Insurance for Physicians, Podiatrists, and Hospitals Act, the Legislature enacted article 5.82, section 4, of the Texas Insurance Code, which purported to restrict the period available for minors to bring medical malpractice actions. See Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 668. Section 4 of article 5.82 provided:
Notwithstanding any other law, no claim against a [health care provider] ... may be commenced unless the action is filed within two years of the breach or the tort complained of or from the date the medical treatment that is the subject of the claim or the hospitalization for which the claim is made is completed, except that minors under the age of six years shall have until their eighth birthday in which to file, or *318have filed on their behalf, such claim. Except as herein provided, this section applies to all persons regardless of minority or other legal disability.
Tex.Ins.Code art. 5.82, § 4 (emphasis added) (hereinafter, article 5.82). When article 5.82 was repealed on August 29, 1977, the Legislature replaced it with section 10.01 of the Medical Liability Act, which provides:
Notwithstanding any other law, no health care liability claim may be commenced unless the action is filed within two years from the occurrence of the breach or tort or from the date the medical or health care treatment that is the subject of the claim or the hospitalization for which the claim is made is completed; provided that, minors under the age of 12 years shall have until their Hth birthday in which to file, or have filed on their behalf, the claim. Except as herein provided, this subchapter applies to all persons regardless of minority or other legal disability.
Tex.Rev.Civ.StatAnn. art. 4590i, § 10.01 (emphasis added) (hereinafter, section 10.01). As we have observed before, other than specifying different ages by which minors must bring claims, section 10.01 and article 5.82 are substantially the same. See Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 663 n. 1; Nelson v. Krusen, 678 S.W.2d 918, 920 n. 1 (Tex.1984).
In 1983, this Court unanimously held that article 5.82 was unconstitutional as applied to minors under the open courts provision of article I, section 13 of the Texas Constitution.3 Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 665-667. We held that the open courts provision guarantees that “the right to bring a well-established common law cause of action cannot be effectively abrogated by the legislature absent a showing that the legislative basis for the statute outweighs the denial of the constitutionally-guaranteed right of redress.” Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 665-666.
Thus, we first considered whether article 5.82 “effectively abrogated” a child’s right to bring a medical malpractice cause of action. Under article 5.82, the limitations period was tolled until a child reached age six, and upon reaching age six, a child, like an adult, was required to bring suit within two years. We observed, however, that a child lacks legal capacity to bring suit dining minority unless the minor’s legal disability has been removed. Although parents, guardians, or next friends may as adults be legally capable of bringing suit on a child’s behalf during minority, we held that the possibility that an adult might act on the child's behalf did not vindicate the total abrogation of the child’s cause of action. Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 667.
We then considered whether the legislative purpose of article 5.82 outweighed the deprivation of a child’s rights under the open courts provision. Although the Legislature enacted article 5.82 for the legitimate purpose of restraining the escalating cost of liability insurance for health care providers, we concluded that the means used to achieve this purpose were not “reasonable when they [were] weighed against the effective abrogation of a child’s right to redress.” Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 667. We accordingly held that, as applied to minors, article 5.82 violated article I, section 13 of the Texas Constitution.
II
Applying the principles articulated in Sax to this case, the court of appeals held that section 10.01, like its predecessor article 5.82, is unconstitutional as applied to minors because it purports to cut off Wasson’s cause of action before he reaches majority, an age at which he may lawfully sue on his own behalf. 871 S.W.2d at 643. We agree. As previously noted, the only significant difference between article 5.82 and section 10.01 is that section 10.01 extends the tolling period from age six to age twelve. This one change in section 10.01 does not cure the constitutional infirmity that we identified in article 5.82 in Sax. Whether a statute compels a child to bring suit by age eight or by age fourteen is inconsequential because in either instance a minor child is legally disabled from pursuing a suit on his own. We do not doubt the Legislature’s power to remove a *319minor’s legal disabilities and thus lower below eighteen the age at which a person may sue on his or her own behalf, but the Court unanimously agrees that the Legislature did not do so in section 10.01. 900 S.W.2d 326. Consistent with Sax, therefore, we hold that section 10.01 is unconstitutional when applied to a minor because it violates article I, section 13 of the Texas Constitution.
Weiner contends that Sax does not control this case, pointing to the following excerpt from the Court’s opinion in an attempt to distinguish it:
If the parents, guardians, or next friends of the child negligently fail to take action in the child’s behalf within the time provided by article 5.82, the child is precluded from asserting his cause of action under that statute. Furthermore, the child is precluded from suing his parents on account of their negligence, due to the doctrine of parent-child immunity. Felderhoff v. Felderhoff, 473 S.W.2d 928 (Tex.1971).
Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 667. Weiner maintains that Felderhoff v. Felderhoff is no longer the law in Texas, and that this Court’s subsequent decision in Jilani v. Jilani, 767 S.W.2d 671 (Tex.1988), expanded the exceptions to the parent-child immunity doctrine upon which Felderhoff was based. Under Jilani, Weiner argues that a child now has the right to sue a parent who negligently fails to bring suit on the child’s behalf within the prescribed limitations period. Therefore, the argument goes, a minor child whose parent fails to assert a medical malpractice claim within the limitations period provided by section 10.01 may sue the parent for negligence. This, it is contended, provides the adequate substitute remedy we found lacking in Sax. We disagree.
Jilani did not change the law governing parent-child immunity articulated in Felder-hoff. To the contrary, the Jilani court applied the Felderhoff test.4 The Court’s opinion expressly states, “[w]e continue to adhere to the principles and policy expounded in Felderhoff.’’ Jilani, 767 S.W.2d at 672. Furthermore, Jilani was expressly limited to automobile negligence cases. Id. at 673. Because Felderhoff remains Texas law, we reject Weiner’s argument that Sax does not control this case.
Additionally, arguing that Wasson had a parent who was capable of bringing suit within the two-year limitations period. Weiner urges us to either overrule Sax, or limit the holding to its facts. We decline to do so.
In Sax, a unanimous Court explicitly considered and rejected the argument that the ability of child’s parent to bring suit on behalf of the child was a reasonable substitute — the same argument made by Weiner in this case. See Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 667. Furthermore, standing for the premise that the Legislature has no power to make a remedy contingent upon an impossible condition, Sax has been frequently cited as authority by this Court, the courts of appeals, and even by the high courts of other states. E.g., Whitlow v. Board of Educ., 190 W.Va. 223, 438 S.E.2d 15, 22 (1993); Mominee v. Scherbarth, 28 Ohio St.3d 270, 28 OBR 346, 503 N.E.2d 717, 721 (1986); Strahler v. St. Luke’s Hosp., 706 S.W.2d 7, 10-11 (Mo.1986); Barrio v. San Manuel Div. Hosp., 143 Ariz. 101, 692 P.2d 280, 286 (1984). Indeed, Sax has been the cornerstone of many of our subsequent decisions. E.g., Neagle v. Nelson, 685 S.W.2d 11, 12 (Tex.1985) (holding that section 10.01 could not cut off a cause of action before the plaintiff knew of the wrong’s existence); Nelson v. Erasen, 678 S.W.2d 918 (Tex.1984) (holding that article 5.82 could not cut off a cause of action before the plaintiff knew of the wrong’s existence); see also Tinkle v. Henderson, 730 S.W.2d 163, 167 (Tex.App.— Tyler 1987, writ ref d) (holding that article 5.82 could not cut off the claim of a mental incompetent).
In short, Weiner presents no arguments that were not considered in Sax, nor does he demonstrate that Sax was wrongly decided. Of course, we have, on occasion and *320for compelling reasons, overruled our earlier decisions, but undeniably, Sax has become firmly ensconced in Texas jurisprudence. Generally, we adhere to our precedents for reasons of efficiency, fairness, and legitimacy. First, if we did not follow our own decisions, no issue could ever be considered resolved. The potential volume of speculative relitigation under such circumstances alone ought to persuade us that stare decisis is a sound policy. Secondly, we should give due consideration to the settled expectations of litigants like Emmanuel Wasson, who have justifiably relied on the principles articulated in Sax. See Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, 321, 112 S.Ct. 1904, 1916, 119 L.Ed.2d 91 (1992) (J. Scalia, concurring) (“[Rjelianee on a square, unabandoned holding of the Supreme Court is always justifiable reliance_”). Finally, under our form of government, the legitimacy of the judiciary rests in large part upon a stable and predictable decisionmaking process that differs dramatically from that properly employed by the political branches of government. See Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254, 265-66, 106 S.Ct. 617, 624, 88 L.Ed.2d 598 (1986) (“[Stare decisis] permits society to presume that bedrock principles are founded in the law rather than in the proclivities of individuals, and thereby contributes to the integrity of our constitutional system of government, both in appearance and in fact.”). Accordingly, we decline to overrule Sax or somehow limit the holding of that case to its facts.
Although the dissenting justices agree with Weiner that Sax can be limited to its facts, we are unpersuaded. Based on the same principles we relied upon in Sax, just two years ago this Court held that even the commencement of a lawsuit by a mental incompetent and his wife did not affect the tolling of limitations during the period of the mental incompetent’s legal disability. Ruiz v. Conoco, Inc., 868 S.W.2d 752, 756 (Tex.1993). In arriving at this holding, we relied upon a series of cases from this and other jurisdictions that treat tolling of limitations for minors and mental incompetents identically. We reasoned:
Access to the courts does not alone provide a legally incapacitated person a viable opportunity to protect his legal rights. The disability of a person of unsound mind is not only the lack of access to the courts, but also the inability to participate in, control, or even understand the progression and disposition of their lawsuit.... [T]he purpose and scope of the tolling provision as applied to minors and persons of unsound mind, extends beyond merely ensuring their access to the courts.
Id. at 755 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). Thus, consistent application of our legal principles dictates that the failure of a parent to bring suit on behalf of a minor, a person under legal disability, does not affect the tolling of limitations. See Ruiz at 756 (“[I]f ... [the guardian ad litem,] having instituted an action within the statutory period, discontinues it, the rights of the infant are not prejudiced thereby, and he may still take advantage of his disability, the action not being barred until the lapse of the statutory period after he comes of age.”) (quoting M.C. Dransfield, Annotation, Appointment of Guardian for Incompetent or for Infant as Affecting Running of Statute of Limitations Against Ward, 86 A.L.R.2D 965, 976 (1962)).
Weiner notes that this Court has previously decided the constitutionality of section 10.01 on an “as applied” or case-by-case basis, see Nelson v. Krusen, 678 S.W.2d 918 (Tex.1984) (holding that section 10.01 was unconstitutional as applied to plaintiff because plaintiff had not discovered the cause of action within the two-year limitations period), and argues that we should do so here. We are of a contrary view. Weiner’s argument leads to the unworkable standard contended for by the dissent, which would inquire whether the minor’s parent was “incompetent” or had a “conflict of interest” that prevented the parent from acting in the minor’s best interests. We fail to see any benefit in requiring a minor to show that his or her parent was incompetent or failed to act in the minor’s best interests by not pursuing a medical malpractice claim, especially when the very failure of the parent to do so leaves the minor without any legal recourse. We accordingly decline the invitation to limit Sax to its facts.
*321III
Having determined that section 10.01 is unconstitutional as applied to minors, we must now determine the limitations period that applies to a minor’s medical malpractice claims. Wasson argues that he is entitled to pursue his lawsuit within two years after attaining majority under sections 16.001 and 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Weiner, on the other hand, argues that a minor has only a “reasonable time” after attaining majority in which to file suit, relying in part on this Court’s decision in Nelson v. Krusen, 678 S.W.2d at 923. Because Wasson did not bring suit until eighteen months after he attained age eighteen, Weiner argues that Wasson failed, as a matter of law, to bring suit within a reasonable time.
The reasonable-time rule is a court-made standard, which has heretofore been applied only in a limited number of cases involving adult plaintiffs who, because of the nature of their claim, did not have a reasonable opportunity to discover their injuries and bring suit within a prescribed limitations period. See Nelson v. Krusen, 678 S.W.2d at 921-22. The reasonable-time rule, in effect, allows certain adult plaintiffs two years plus a reasonable time to bring suit. Despite the fact that we have never applied the reasonable-time rule to cases other than those involving claims that are by their nature exceedingly difficult or impossible to discover, Weiner urges us to hold that minors have only a reasonable time after attaining age eighteen to bring suit. We decline to do so.
Rather than fashioning a rule of our own making and applying it to minor plaintiffs, we think it is more appropriate to look to the general limitations provisions enacted by the Legislature. Sections 16.001 and 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code together provide a general statute of limitations for minors’ personal injury claims.5 Section 16.003 establishes a two-year limitations period,6 but section 16.001 tolls this period until the minor reaches age eighteen.7 Taken together, these sections require a minor to file a claim before reaching age twenty for personal injuries sustained during the period of minority. Because section 10.01 of the Medical Liability Act is unconstitutional as it applies to minors, we conclude that the limitations period provided by the general tolling and limitations provisions of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 16.001 and 16.003 apply to Wasson’s claim.8
We therefore hold that Wasson had two years after attaining age eighteen to bring suit for the acts of medical malpractice allegedly committed during his minority. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals and remand this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
OWEN, J., joined by PHILLIPS, C.J., and HECHT, J., dissents.

. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 4590Í, § 10.01 (Vernon Supp.1994).

. When a trial court grants summary judgment without specifying the grounds, the summary judgment must be affirmed on appeal if any of the theories advanced are meritorious. Carr v. Brasher, 776 S.W.2d 567, 569 (Tex.1989). The court of appeals, however, did not address Weiner’s second ground for summary judgment. We address both grounds below.

. The open courts provision states:
All courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him, in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law.
Tejí Const, art I, § 13.

. Under both Jilani and Felderhoff, the parent-child immunity doctrine prevents suits by a child against a parent with respect to "alleged acts of ordinary negligence which involve a reasonable exercise of parental authority or the exercise of ordinary parental discretion with respect to provisions for the care and necessities of the child.” Jilani, 767 S.W.2d at 672; Felderhoff, 473 S.W.2d at 933.

. These provisions date back to at least 1911. See Sax, 648 S.W.2d at 663.

. Section 16.003 provides:
(a) A person must bring suit for ... personal injury ... not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues.
Tex.Civ.Peac. & Rem.Code § 16.003.

. Section 16.001 provides:
(a) For purposes of this subchapter, a person is under a legal disability if the person is:
(1) younger than 18 years of age, regardless of whether the person is married; or
(2) of unsound mind.
(b) If a person entitled to bring a personal action is under a legal disability when the cause of action accrues, the time of the disability is not included in a limitations period.
TexCiv.Prac. & Rem.Code § 16.001.

.We note that when faced with the unconstitutionality of medical malpractice statutes similar to § 10.01, several other states have also applied the general tolling statute. See Whitlow v. Board of Educ., 190 W.Va. 223, 438 S.E.2d 15, 23 (1993); Strahler v. St. Luke’s Hosp., 706 S.W.2d 7, 11 (Mo.1986); Momineev. Scherbarth, 28 Ohio St.3d 270, 28 OBR 346, 503 N.E.2d 717, 723 (1986); Barrio v. San Manuel Div. Hosp., 143 Ariz. 101, 692 P.2d 280, 286 (1984).