Paxton v. Chapman General Hospital, Inc.

Opinion

WALLIN, J.

Sylvia Paxton appeals the summary judgment granted on the basis her medical malpractice complaint against Chapman General Hospital, Inc. was barred by the statute of limitations. Paxton contends 1) her complaint was timely because the 1 year statute of limitations is extended 180 days from the date she served her notice of intent to sue (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 356, 364, 340.5

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), and 2) whether she discovered her injury and its negligent cause within the statutory period is a question of fact. We conclude Paxton had 1 year from the accrual of her cause of action plus 180 days from the date of her notice of intent to sue to file her complaint; thus, it was timely and the judgment is reversed.

[112]

I

Paxton entered Chapman General on January 24, 1982, to undergo a vaginal hysterectomy the next day. Five minutes before the surgery, a nurse gave her three injections. The first, injected into her hip and buttock area, caused her immediate and severe pain, which she reported to the nurse.

The surgery was performed under general anesthesia and was completed shortly before noon. Paxton woke up late that afternoon, but she was groggy from the anesthesia throughout the night. She became aware of pain and soreness in her right hip area the day after surgery, January 26, and asked the nurse to give further injections on her left side. She testified she “was aware something was not right, [but] thought it would go away in a couple of days.” On the last day of her stay, January 29, she complained to her doctor that she was “still sore on the right side from the shots they gave me before surgery.”

During the two weeks following surgery, Paxton experienced numbness and extreme sensitivity to touch in her hip area. On February 12, 1982, she went to Dr. Chun for her first follow-up visit. He informed her that “sometimes ... a needle stick will get a branch of the sciatic nerve.” She was ultimately diagnosed as having suffered sciatic neuritis caused by the needle stick damaging the subcutaneous femoral nerve.

Paxton served a notice of intent to sue on December 29, 1982, and filed her complaint on April 29, 1983. In granting Chapman General’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court found Paxton was aware of her injury no later than January 26, 1982, and that the action was barred by the one-year limitations period in section 340.5.