Miller v. Mercy Medical Center

380 N.W.2d 827, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 3908
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 21, 1986
DocketC6-85-1110
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 380 N.W.2d 827 (Miller v. Mercy Medical Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Mercy Medical Center, 380 N.W.2d 827, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 3908 (Mich. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinions

OPINION

RANDALL, Judge.

Julie Obinger Miller appeals the trial court’s grant of respondents Dr. Baron’s and Mercy Medical Center’s summary judgment motion and dismissal of her claim as being barred by Minnesota’s two-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims. Minn.Stat. § 541.07(1) (1984).

The parties dispute when the statute of limitations began to run. Appellant claims it began to run on or after November 5, 1977, the date she learned she had fractured her spine; respondents argue the statute began to run August 13, 1977, the date of appellant’s only visit with Dr. Baron. The trial court ruled that, as a matter of law, the patient-doctor relationship between appellant and respondent terminated August 13, 1977, therefore her suit, filed November 5, 1979, is barred by Minn.Stat. § 541.07(1).

FACTS

Appellant was injured August 12, 1977, in a single-car rollover accident. Unconscious at the scene, she was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center.

Appellant was first treated by Dr. Rod-man, affiliated with Coon Rapids Medical Clinic, and the emergency room physician on duty that evening. Appellant complained of pain and numbness in her neck and back, as well as pain in her foot and in her collarbone. Dr. Rodman x-rayed appellant’s cervical spine and diagnosed cervical strain, whiplash. Both Dr. Rodman and the radiologist read the x-ray as negative for fracture. Dr. Rodman prescribed a cervical collar and pain medication. Appellant states that Dr. Rodman told her to see him at the Coon Rapids Clinic in a week. Appellant was not admitted to the hospital and returned home that evening.

Appellant experienced significant discomfort that evening. The next day Rhonda Erickson, appellant’s roommate, and Ray Miller, then appellant’s fiancee and now her [829]*829husband, helped appellant walk into her bedroom and they supported her back and head to ease her into a reclining position. As they were lowering her, her neck collapsed, her head snapped backward, and an audible cracking sound emanated from her upper back-neck region. She lost her breath and experienced great pain in her upper back and neck.

Erickson called the Mercy emergency room and described the incident to the doctor. She was instructed to bring appellant in for an examination.

Appellant was seen by respondent, Dr. R.L. Baron, who manually examined appellant’s back. At that time, respondent was associated with the Emergency Professional Physicians Association (EPPA), an organization that staffs emergency rooms for some area hospitals. He was not otherwise in private practice. Respondent took no x-rays and conducted no additional tests. He diagnosed appellant’s condition as a cervical muscle spasm. He instructed her to go home and relax, continue wearing the neck brace, take the medication Dr. Rod-man had prescribed, and “quit acting like a baby.” Appellant returned home following the examination.

Respondent did not see appellant again after August 13, 1977, nor did appellant consult with any other doctor until two months after the accident.

Someone, the parties are in dispute as to the person’s identity, called Coon Rapids Clinic after the accident and ordered a refill of appellant’s pain medication prescription.

Appellant returned to her job as a receptionist-secretary at the end of August, 1977. She continued to wear the cervical collar. Her condition worsened, she suffered frequent headaches, and was unable to completely control her bodily functions.

On November 4, 1977, appellant saw Dr. James J. Abler, an Anoka chiropractor. Dr. Abler took x-rays and notified appellant on November 5, 1977, that the x-rays showed a fracture of her odontoid process, a bony portion of the second cervical vertebra. He advised her to go immediately to the hospital.

Appellant returned to Mercy Medical Center. She was examined by Dr. Stephen Martin, an independent physician not affiliated with any of the other physicians involved in this action. Dr. Martin confirmed the fracture and recommended immediate surgery. On November 7, 1977, he performed a fusion of appellant’s first three cervical vertebrae. Appellant was hospitalized for eleven days and wore a head to waist metal brace for three months.

Appellant continues to suffer pain in her neck and upper back and experiences numbness in her hands and feet as a result of her injury.

Sometime in January, 1978, she hired an attorney, who no longer represents her, to pursue a medical malpractice claim against Dr. Baron for negligent examination, misdiagnosis, and treatment. The attorney never filed suit. Present counsel commenced this action November 5, 1979, against Mercy Medical Center and each of the physicians who treated appellant. All were dismissed from the suit except Mercy and Dr. Baron.

On May 11, 1981, the court denied both respondent’s motion and appellant’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Trial was set for March 18, 1985. The court agreed to hear the case on a narrow set of stipulated facts, apparently to save appellant the expense of numerous expert witnesses.

Prior to trial, respondents renewed their motion for summary judgment claiming the statute of limitations barred appellant’s claim. The court granted respondent’s motion, finding no continuing course of treatment after August 13, 1977, and finding that respondent’s care, as a matter of law, terminated more than two years prior to appellant’s filing her suit. This appeal is from the judgment entered March 29,1985.

ISSUES

1. Did the trial court err in granting respondent’s summary judgment motion?

[830]*8302. Should this court adopt the “discovery rule” for medical malpractice cases?

I.

Statute of Limitations

The parties have stipulated to the facts. The sole issue before this court is when Dr. Baron’s treatment of appellant terminated and when the statute of limitations began to run.

Appellant claims that she relied on respondent’s diagnosis of cervical strain and that her reliance on his diagnosis constituted a continuing course of treatment. She argues that this continuing course of treatment did not terminate until November 5, 1977, the day she learned that her spine was fractured. Thus, she argues, the statute of limitations did not begin to run until November 5, 1977.

Respondent claims his treatment of appellant was a single act and terminated at the completion of that treatment on August 13, 1977.

Summary judgment is properly granted where the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, and affidavits show that there is no genuine issue of material fact “and that either party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Minn.R.Civ. P. 56.03. On appeal this court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is granted. Abdallah, Inc. v. Martin, 242 Minn. 416, 424, 65 N.W.2d 641, 646 (1954); Hawkinson v. Geyer, 352 N.W.2d 784, 788 (Minn.Ct.App.1984).

Minnesota’s statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is two years. Minn.Stat. § 541.07(1) (1984). The cause of action accrues when the physician’s treatment of the patient terminates. Johnson v.

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Related

Miller v. Mercy Medical Center
380 N.W.2d 827 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
380 N.W.2d 827, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 3908, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-mercy-medical-center-minnctapp-1986.