J.K. & Susie L. Wadley Research Institute & Blood Bank v. Beeson

835 S.W.2d 689, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 2123, 1992 WL 134703
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 11, 1992
Docket05-91-01574-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by68 cases

This text of 835 S.W.2d 689 (J.K. & Susie L. Wadley Research Institute & Blood Bank v. Beeson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.K. & Susie L. Wadley Research Institute & Blood Bank v. Beeson, 835 S.W.2d 689, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 2123, 1992 WL 134703 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

STEWART, Justice.

This is a suit against a blood bank resulting from the death of a blood recipient from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the subsequent AIDS infection of the recipient’s wife. The plaintiffs alleged that the blood bank negligently screened blood donors and tested blood donations for infection.

J.K. and Susie L. Wadley Research Institute and Blood Bank, d/b/a The Blood Center at Wadley (Wadley), appeals from a judgment in favor of appellees, Esther Bee-son, individually and as representative of the estate of Thomas W. Beeson, and Bruce Beeson (the Beesons), in the Bee-sons’ suit under the wrongful death and survival statutes. Wadley argues in three points of error that the trial court erred in denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict because (1) the Bee-sons’ wrongful death and survival causes of action are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations, (2) Esther’s personal injury claims are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations, and (3) the evidence is legally insufficient to support the jury verdict with regard to causation. For the reasons given below, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

BACKGROUND FACTS

On April 22, 1983, Dr. William Kraus, a cardiologist, discovered that Tom had severe blockage of two major arteries in his heart and recommended cardiac bypass surgery. During surgery that same day, Tom received seven units of blood by transfusion. In late May 1987, Tom had trouble breathing and chest pain. He was hospitalized on June 5, 1987. Dr. Kraus consulted with two specialists in pulmonary medicine about the unusual pneumonia evident in x-rays of Tom’s lungs. Because there was a possibility that the lung infection was secondary to AIDS, Tom was tested for HIV. Although Tom had not been formally diagnosed, doctors empirically started him on therapy for AIDS on June 6, 1987. On June 9, 1987, Tom was formally diagnosed as HIV positive. Esther was then tested for HIV, and she learned in June 1987 that she was HIV positive. Tom died on July 2, 1987.

On April 21, 1989, Esther and her son, Bruce, filed suit against Wadley alleging that Tom contracted AIDS from the transfusion of a unit of blood donated at Wadley on April 19, 1983, by a donor identified at trial as John Doe. The parties stipulated at trial that Doe was a sexually active homosexual male with multiple sex partners. On June 7,1990, the Beesons amended their original petition to contend that Wadley’s negligence in testing and screening blood donors caused Esther’s contraction of AIDS. At trial, the jury awarded the Beesons $800,000 in damages. Following the trial court’s denial of Wadley’s motion for judgment n.o.v., Wadley filed this appeal.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

A. Wrongful Death and Survival Claims

Wadley argues in its first point of error that the trial court erred in denying its *693 motion for judgment n.o.v. because the Beesons’ wrongful death and survival causes of action are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. Wadley’s pleadings alleged that the Beesons’ claims were barred by the “statute of limitations pursuant to the Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act of Texas, art. 4590(i)” and by the “common law statute of limitations.”

Wadley first argues that Tom’s negligence cause of action is a claim for personal injuries barred by the two-year statute of limitations. Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 16.003(a) (Vernon 1986). The Beesons respond that the allegation that their claims were barred by the “common law statute of limitations” was insufficient to raise the statute of limitations contained in section 16.003(a) as an affirmative defense because it failed to give them fair notice of Wadley’s defensive theory. Schley v. Structural Metals, Inc., 595 S.W.2d 572, 586 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.); Hunter v. Carter, 476 S.W.2d 41, 45 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1972, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The Beesons maintain that Wadley’s failure to properly plead and prove its plea of limitations under section 16.003(a) waived this defense on appeal. Woods v. Mercer, Inc., 769 S.W.2d 515, 517 (Tex.1988).

We agree that the defendant must state its affirmative defenses in sufficient detail to give the plaintiff fair notice of the defensive issues to be tried. Hunter, 476 S.W.2d at 45. The Beesons, however, should have filed special exceptions if they wanted more specificity. A party waives any defect, omission, or fault in a pleading that is not specifically pointed out by a special exception. Tex.R.Civ.P. 90. Here, because the Beesons did not file special exceptions to Wadley’s “common law statute of limitations” pleading, they waived any complaint about its insufficiency. Id. Accordingly, we conclude that we may consider section 16.003(a) on appeal. We next address the Beesons’ contention that Wadley failed to prove its statute of limitations defense.

Wadley had the burden of proof on its limitations defense at trial. Woods, 769 S.W.2d at 517. Thus, to prevail on appeal of the denial of a judgment n.o.v., Wadley must demonstrate that the evidence conclusively established that the cause of action was barred as a matter of law. Trenholm v. Ratcliff, 646 S.W.2d 927, 931 (Tex.1983); Miranda v. Joe Myers Ford, Inc., 638 S.W.2d 36, 38 (Tex.App. —Houston [1st Dist.] 1982, pet. dism’d). Section 16.003(a) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, relied on by Wadley, provides that claims for personal injury must be brought no later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code Ann. § 16.003(a) (Vernon 1986). Thus, we must determine when the cause of action accrued before we can determine if Wadley has conclusively established that the Beesons’ claims are barred as a matter of law.

A cause of action generally accrues when the wrongful act effects an injury, regardless of when the plaintiff learned of the injury. Robinson v. Weaver, 550 S.W.2d 18,19 (Tex.1977). Wadley contends that its alleged wrongful conduct occurred on April 19,1983, when it collected the unit of HIV-contaminated blood from Doe and that Tom suffered a legal injury when he received that unit of blood by transfusion on April 22, 1983. Therefore, Wadley asserts that Tom’s right of redress accrued on April 22, 1983, and that limitations barred his cause of action for negligence as of April 22, 1985. Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem. Code Ann. § 16.003(a) (Vernon 1986).

The Beesons reply that a cause of action accrues when, and only when, damages are sustained. Atkins v. Crosland, 417 S.W.2d 150, 153 (Tex.1967). They rely on the supreme court’s language in Atkins

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Bluebook (online)
835 S.W.2d 689, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 2123, 1992 WL 134703, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jk-susie-l-wadley-research-institute-blood-bank-v-beeson-texapp-1992.