Nava v. Saddleback Memorial Medical Center (opinion filed Sept. 23, 2016; certified for publication Oct. 18, 2016, G052218) ___ Cal.App.5th ___ [2016 WL 5338541]
A patient who was injured when he fell from a gurney sued the hospital and an ambulance service for negligence nearly two years after the incident. The trial court granted both defendants’ motions for summary judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5, which imposes a one-year statute of limitations on lawsuits claiming “professional negligence” by a health care provider. Section 340.5 defines professional negligence as “a negligent act or omission to act by a health care provider in the rendering of professional services.” Plaintiff, who had advocated a longer statute of limitations applicable to premises liability claims, appealed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed. The court applied the rule recently announced by the California Supreme Court in Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (2016) 63 Cal.4th 75, 88-89—the applicable statute of limitations is determined by whether the alleged negligence is integrally or only incidentally related to the medical care being provided. The court held that plaintiff’s transfer on a gurney was “integrally related to his medical diagnosis or treatment” because (as plaintiff conceded) it was “subject to a medical professional’s directive.” Therefore, because “the negligence occurred in the rendering of professional services” the one-year statute of limitations period under section 340.5 applied.
Thomas Watson
htwatson@horvitzlevy.com
Horvitz & Levy LLP
3601 W. Olive Ave., 8th Fl.
Burbank, CA 91505
818.995.0800
horvitzlevy.com
