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ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANTS R. Cordell Funk Schererville, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE Sharon L. Stanzione Merrillville, Indiana

______________________________________________________________________________

In the

FILED
Sep 01 2010, 12:22 pm
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 45S03-1001-CV-33 SUZANNE EADS AND JAMES ATTERHOLT, COMMISSIONER OF THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE,

CLERK

Appellants (Respondents Below), v. COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, Appellee (Petitioner Below). _________________________________ Appeal from the Lake Circuit Court, No. 45C01-0802-CT-00014 The Honorable Lorenzo Arredondo, Judge The Honorable Richard F. McDevitt, Jr., Magistrate _________________________________ On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 45A03-0807-CV-350 _________________________________ September 1, 2010 Boehm, Justice. A patient was injured leaving the hospital on crutches. She sued, asserting a general premises liability claim, and claiming the hospital was negligent in refusing her a wheelchair. The medical malpractice limitations period expired before her general negligence complaint was dismissed for failure to comply with the requirement of the Medical Malpractice Act that a medical malpractice complaint be filed with the Department of Insurance before it is presented to a court. We hold that under these circumstances a medical malpractice complaint alleging the same facts as the dismissed complaint may be deemed a continuation of the first complaint for purposes of the Journey's Account Statute.

Factual and Procedural Background On August 15, 2004, Suzanne Eads's leg was placed in a cast at Community Hospital. Eads's request for a wheelchair was denied and she left the hospital on crutches, but fell attempting to exit the lobby. On August 8, 2006, Eads filed a premises liability negligence complaint in Lake Superior Court. The Hospital moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the complaint alleged medical malpractice, and no proposed complaint had been filed with the Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI), as required by the Medical Malpractice Act (MMA). On April 12, 2007, the Superior Court dismissed the case without prejudice for failure to comply with this procedural requirement of the MMA. No appeal was taken. On March 26, 2007, approximately two weeks before the Superior Court dismissed the complaint, Eads submitted a proposed complaint to IDOI based on the same circumstances alleged in the Superior Court complaint.1 Eads explained to IDOI that the purpose of filing the complaint with IDOI was to preserve her right to bring her claim should the Superior Court case be dismissed. The Hospital responded by filing a motion in Lake Circuit Court for a preliminary determination of law under Indiana Code

Download Suzanne Eads, et al. v. Community Hospitals.pdf

Indiana Law