Chace v. Curran

19 Mass. L. Rptr. 498
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJune 7, 2005
DocketNo. 200402290
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 19 Mass. L. Rptr. 498 (Chace v. Curran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chace v. Curran, 19 Mass. L. Rptr. 498 (Mass. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

FishmaN, Kenneth J., J.

INTRODUCTION

The plaintiffs, Andrew Chace (“Andrew”) a minor, and his mother, Sharon Judkins (“Judkins”), bring this medical malpractice action against Arlene Cur-ran, M.D. (“Dr. Curran”) and Ann Taylor, R.N. (‘Taylor”) alleging in Counts I and VII that both parties were involved in negligent rescusitative efforts that occurred during Andrew’s birth. The plaintiffs also bring claims of misrepresentation (Counts II and VIII) and fraudulent concealment stemming from circumstances in which the plaintiffs allege that the defendants falsified medical reports to reflect no wrongdoing on their parts.4 The defendants move to dismiss all the claims, claiming that the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim, and that the claims are barred by the seven-year statute of repose, applicable to medical malpractice actions. The plaintiffs allege that they came to the information of fraudulent concealment and misrepresentation years after the alleged incident, and that these circumstances toll the statute of repose. After hearing, and for the reasons as more fully set out in this memorandum of decision, the defendants’ motion is ALLOWED.

BACKGROUND

Sharon Judkins gave birth to Andrew Chace on September 22, 1995, at Holy Family Hospital in Lawrence, Massachusetts. During the course of the birth, Judkins exhibited signs of a complication known as a “prolapsed cord,” in which the umbilical cord is delivered through the vaginal canal before the fetus. This condition can present a danger to the fetus, and as a result, Judkin’s obstetrician, Robert Shannon, M.D. (“Dr. Shannon”) alerted personnel and a caesarean section procedure was performed. Upon delivery, Andrew was removed to an area where he was attended to by nurse Shelagh Galvin (“Galvin”), the defendant Taylor, and the defendant Dr. Curran. The three parties undertook rescusitative efforts on Andrew, and the plaintiffs allege that during this treatment, Taylor and Dr. Curran were negligent and caused Andrew injuries. As of the filing of this motion, Andrew was [499]*499eight years old, and suffers from multiple severe physical and mental disabilities.

On March 29, 2001, the plaintiffs filed a complaint against Dr. Shannon, the obstetrician who delivered Andrew.5 Pretrial discovery ensued, and it is alleged that, on March 25, 2004, during a deposition of nurse Galvin, she revealed that the medical records prepared by the defendants immediately after the birth were inaccurate and incomplete in material ways. Specifically, she also testified that an endotracheal tube was not recognized or responded to, and as a result, Andrew did not receive oxygen for several minutes after his birth. Subsequent to this revelation, the plaintiffs filed the instant action on June 3, 2004.

DISCUSSION

For purposes of a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim under Mass.RCiv.P. 12(b)(6), “(t]he allegations in the complaint must be treated as true and the plaintiff is entitled to all favorable inferences.” General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Abington Casualty Ins. Co., 413 Mass. 583, 584 (1992). Amotion to dismiss should only be granted if “it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” General Motors Acceptance Corp., 413 Mass. at 584, quoting Nader v. Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977), quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46 (1957).

There are several issues raised by the pending motion, some of which appear to have been directly decided by the Massachusetts appellate courts. The first is the question of which statute of repose should apply to this case. The defendants rely on G.L.c. 231, §60D, while the plaintiffs maintain that G.L.c. 260, §4 governs this cause of action. Next, the plaintiffs argue that c. 260, §4 enumerates in the statute specifically which medical professionals to whom the Legislature intended the statute to apply. The word “nurse” is omitted from this section, and the plaintiffs contend that nurses, while being subject to medical malpractice actions, can escape the effects of the statute of repose, while the physicians with whom they work fall under the aegis of the statute. Lastly, the plaintiffs claim that the defendants fraudulently concealed this cause of action, effectively preventing the filing of this suit until the statute of repose had expired. The plaintiffs claim that this behavior by the defendants tolls the statute of repose, and would therefore allow this cause of action to proceed.

Applicable Statutes

The defendants move to dismiss the claims as untimely in violation of the statute of repose applicable to medical malpractice claims. The parties dispute which statute applies to the plaintiffs in this case, le., G.L.c. 231, §60D or G.L.c. 260, §4. The short answer is that both statutes apply to this case.

As a minor, the timeliness of the claims brought on Andrew’s behalf are governed by c. 231, §60D. Harlfin-ger v. Martin, 435 Mass. 38, 40 (2001); McGuinness v. Cotter, 412 Mass. 617, 620 (1992). The other claims, brought by Sharon Judkins on her own behalf as an adult, are governed by c. 260, §4. Harlfinger, 435 Mass, at 41, n. 4; McGuinness, 412 Mass, at 627. Both statutes have a three-year statute of limitations and a seven-year statute of repose concerning actions for medical malpractice. G.L. 231, §60D, G.L.c. 260, §4.

These statutes do not contain identical language, although the language establishing a statute of repose in both is the same. Chapter 231, §60D, relating to minor plaintiffs, states as follows:

Notwithstanding the provisions of section seven of chapter two hundred and sixty, any claim by a minor against a health care provider stemming from professional services or health care rendered, whether in contract or tort, based on an alleged act, omission or neglect shall be commenced within three years from the date the cause of action accrues, except that a minor under the full age of six years shall have until his ninth birthday in which the action may be commenced, but in no event shall any such action be commenced more than seven years after occurrence of the act or omission which is the alleged cause of the injury upon which such action is based except where the action is based upon the leaving of a foreign object in the body.

(Emphasis added.) This statute was enacted in 1975 as a statute of limitation. The provision creating a statute of repose was added by amendment in 1986. G.L.c. 231, §60D; Harlfinger, 435 Mass. at 41; McGuinness, 412 Mass, at 621.

By contrast, the version contained in the statute governing claims by adults has existed in some form for hundreds of years as a statute of limitations. It, too, was amended in 1986 to include a statute of repose. G.L.c. 260, §4; Harlfinger, 435 Mass. at 41, n. 4; McGuinness, 412 Mass. at 627. The pertinent part of that statute reads as follows:

Actions of contract or tort for malpractice, error or mistake against physicians, surgeons, dentists, optometrists, hospitals and sanitaria shall be commenced only within three years after the cause of action accrues,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 Mass. L. Rptr. 498, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chace-v-curran-masssuperct-2005.