James v. Buck

727 P.2d 1136, 111 Idaho 708, 1986 Ida. LEXIS 563

• Court: Idaho Supreme Court
• Decided: November 5, 1986
• Docket: 15874
• Status: Published

Opinions

BISTLINE, Justice.

Betty James’ husband, Andrew James, died on March 30, 1981, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He had been transferred to a hospital in that city after receiving medical attention in Idaho on March 10, 1981, at Gooding Memorial Hospital and at Magic Valley Regional Medical Center.

On March 29, 1983, one day before the applicable statute of limitations was to have run — I.C. § 5-219 — James filed her claim for medical malpractice with the Idaho State Board of Medicine, as required by I.C. Title 6, Ch. 10, et seq. The State Board subsequently convened a prelitigation screening panel, which held hearings on June 17 and June 23, 1983. These dates were, respectively, the 80th and 87th day after James had filed her claim with the Board.

A decision was not announced by the prelitigation screening panel until 125 days after James filed her claim. The decision was then filed with the State Board of Medicine ten days later, on August 10, 1983. James did not file her claim in district court until September 9, 1983, which was 165 days after the filing of her application for a prelitigation hearing, but thirty days after the prelitigation panel’s decision was filed with the State Board of Medicine. At no time did the prelitigation screening panel summarily conclude the proceedings prior to the issuance of its recommendation.

Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the two-year time period of I.C. § 5-219(4) had expired. The district court agreed with the defendants, holding that they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The ground upon which the district court based its decision was that the applicability of I.C. § 6-1005, a statute which tolls the running of the statute of limitations while a claim is before a prelitigation panel, had terminated after 90 days, and the statute of limitations period had recommenced and expired prior to James’ filing of her complaint. James appeals from this decision. We reverse the district court.

I. INTRODUCTION

“An action to recover damages for professional malpractice, or for an injury to the person, or for the death of one caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another” must be filed within two years of the date the cause of action accrued. I.C. § 5-219(4); Mack Financial v. Smith, 111 Idaho 8, 720 P.2d 191, 193 (1986). Before a plaintiff can file a medical malpractice suit, however, he or she is required by statute to first file the claim with the State Board of Medicine, which then convenes a prelitigation panel. I.C. §§ 6-1001 and -1002. The prelitigation panel, is composed of an attorney, a medical professional, and a layperson. I.C. § 6-1002.

The purpose of the panel is to receive evidence concerning the plaintiff’s claim and, at the close of the proceedings, “provide the parties its comments and observations with respect to the dispute----” I.C. § 6-1004. The proceedings before the prelitigation panel are “informal”:

Proceedings conducted or maintained under the authority of this act shall at all times be confidential, privileged and immune from civil process and evidence of them or results, findings or determinations thereof shall be inadmissible in any civil or other action or proceeding by, against or between the parties thereto or any witness thereon. I.C. § 6-1001.

While a malpractice claim is “pending” before a prelitigation panel, and for thirty days after it renders its decision, the applicable statute of limitations is tolled. I.C. § 6-1005.¹ During the time the statute of limitations is being tolled, a plaintiff also is precluded from filing his or her action in court. I.C. § 6-1006.

I.C. § 6-1011 limits the time in which a prelitigation panel has to hear a dispute and issue findings. Specifically, § 6-1011 states in pertinent part:

6-1011. Limit on duration of proceedings — Panel’s jurisdiction. — There shall be no repeat or reopening of panel proceedings. In no case shall a panel retain jurisdiction of any such claim in excess of ninety (90) days from date of commencement of proceedings. If at the end of such ninety (90) day period the panel is unable to decide the issues before it, it shall summarily conclude the proceedings and the members may informally, by written communication, express to the parties their joint and several impressions and conclusions, if any, albeit the same may be tentative or based upon admittedly incomplete consideration____

Defendants argue that I.C. § 6-1011 terminated the jurisdiction of the prelitigation panel 90 days after James filed her claim, and that 30 days after that date, the tolling provisions of § 6-1005 ceased operation, thus causing the two-year statute of limitations, as found in I.C. § 5-219(4), to begin running again. Because only one day was left to run on James’ period to file under § 5-219(4), defendants argue that James’ claim became stale on July 27, 1983; therefore, the filing of her action in district court on September 9, 1983 should be barred. For the following reasons, we reject the defendants’ argument.

II. ANALYSIS

The defendants’ argument centers in the second sentence of I.C. § 6-1011, which, for convenience sake, we requote: “In no case shall a panel retain jurisdiction of any such claim in excess of ninety (90) days from date of commencement of proceedings.” Taken in a vacuum, this sentence would seem to support the defendants. But there is more. Directly following the above sentence, § 6-6011 next says this:

If at the end of such ninety (90) day period the panel is unable to decide the issues before it, it shall summarily conclude the proceedings and the members may informally, by written communication, express to the parties their joint and several impressions and conclusions, if any, albeit the same may be tentative or based upon admittedly incomplete consideration____(Emphasis added.)

This portion of the statute establishes conditions which must be satisfied before the panel’s jurisdiction is terminated:

(1) the panel must find itself unable to decide the issues before it; and, that being done, then

(2) the panel must summarily conclude the proceedings.

None of these conditions were satisfied here; there is no evidence that the panel was unable to decide the issues before it. In fact, on August 10, 1983, the panel did in fact file a set of findings and conclusions. The decision was filed 48 days after the hearings before the panel were completed. Likewise, there is no evidence in the record that the panel ever summarily concluded the proceedings — the panel’s filing of its findings and recommendations refutes any argument that James’ claim was ever summarily concluded.

The major reason for the panel’s findings not being filed until 125 days after James filed her complaint with the State Board of Medicine was the panel’s inability to finish its hearings until 87 days after James filed her prelitigation complaint with the State Board of Medicine. There is no evidence that this 87-day delay was the fault of James.

The district court erred in focusing solely on the second sentence of I.C. § 6-1011 and in ignoring the next two sentences. This squarely contradicts general rules of statutory interpretation, which include the rule that a court must give effect to “all provisions of a statute,” and “no one part should be rendered mere surplusage by” the application of one part of the statute to the exclusion of other parts. Sterling v. Bloom, 111 Idaho 211, 723 P.2d 755, 766 slip op., p. 20 (1986); University of Utah Hospital and Medical Center v. Bethke, 101 Idaho 245, 248, 611 P.2d 1030, 1033 (1980).

In addition, where two constructions of a statute of limitations or a rule which impacts directly upon such a statute are possible, courts generally prefer the construction which gives the longer period in which to prosecute the action. Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Honeywell, 639 P.2d 996, 1001 (Alaska 1981); Salavea v. City and County of Honolulu, 55 Hawaii 216, 517 P.2d 51, 54 (1973); Drug, Cosmetic & Beauty Trades Service, Inc. v. McFate, 14 Ariz.App. 7, 480 P.2d 30, 32 (1971); Juab County Dept. of Public Welfare v. Summers, 19 Utah 2d 491, 426 P.2d 1, 3 (1967). Our interpretation of I.C. § 6-1011 today is consistent with that rule.

Our holding today also is bolstered by the very sentence upon which the defendants rely. As quoted above, I.C. § 6-1011 grants the panel 90 days’ jurisdiction from “the date of commencement of proceedings.” Defendants argue that the term “commencement of proceedings” refers to the date James filed her claim. James argues that the term refers to the date the panel instituted hearings on the matter. Based upon the above rule of construction concerning the interpretation of statutes of limitations, we agree with James’ view. There could be no proceedings under Title 6 chapter 10 until a panel was impaneled.

The term “proceedings” as used throughout I.C. § 6-1001 et seq., necessarily refers to the hearing before the panel. I.C. § 6-1001 states that “[fjormal rules of evidence shall not apply and all such proceedings shall be expeditious and informal.” I.C. § 6-1003 says that “[tjhere shall be no record of such proceedings.” I.C. § 6-1004 discusses the “close of proceedings, ” and the requirement of the panel at that time to provide the parties its comments and observations with respect to the dispute. I.C. § 6-1008 states that a party need not “attend and participate in the proceedings.” It follows, that “proceedings” in I.C. § 6-1011 likewise refers to the hearing before the panel. Accordingly, the 90 day period did not commence until the hearings commenced, and hence, never expired. Finally, it must be remembered that there is no panel until after a claim is filed and the members of the panel are appointed by the State Board. I.C. § 6-1002. Thus, the panel’s 90-day jurisdiction cannot be viewed as beginning with the filing of a claim since it has not even been established yet. Under this interpretation it is readily apparent that James’ complaint was filed within the necessary time limitations. Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, we reverse the district court’s ruling.

Costs to appellant; no attorney's fees.

DONALDSON, C.J., and HUNTLEY, J., concur. SHEPARD and BAKES, JJ., concur in the result.

1 . The specific language of a § 6-1005 reads as follows: “[T]he applicable statute of limitations shall be tolled and not be deemed to run during the time that such a claim is pending before such a panel and for thirty (30) days thereafter.”