Wenqian Zuo filed a California medical malpractice case against Select CAL Physical Therapy alleging that she had physical therapy in June 2019 and, although she found the treatments effective for addressing her frozen shoulder, they caused damage to her deltoid muscles and to the back of her left shoulder. Although she acknowledged that she “knew the torn [d]eltoid was from [p]hysical [t]herapy before,” she alleged that she did not file her complaint until 2023 because she “did not realize” the extent of her injuries until she received X-ray and MRI results in February and May 2022 and thereafter conducted “intense study” on the Internet.
The Court of Appeal of the State of California Sixth Appellate District stated in its unpublished opinion filed on September 9, 2024 that Zuo argued on appeal that her cause of action for medical malpractice was not time-barred because she did not discover (1) the cause of her torn supraspinatus muscle until August 2023; (2) the injury to her pectoralis minor nerve until she saw the results of a February 2022 X-ray; and (3) her torn serratus muscle until 2023, which she asserted all fall within the three-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims.
The California appellate court stated: “it is apparent from the face of the complaint and amended complaint, as well as the record before us, that Zuo experienced pain and was aware of injury to her left shoulder area during and following physical therapy in June 2019. She was unaware only of the specific impacted nerves and muscles (other than her deltoid) and the precise type of injury sustained (e.g., tear, nerve damage). Zuo expressly stated that she felt pain
during physical therapy at Select in June 2019 and knew that she suffered a deltoid injury as a result. “That is sufficient to trigger the three-year period provided for in section 340.5″ … In addition, the pain Zuo experienced while doing the physical therapy exercises put her on notice that something was wrong and deserving of further inquiry … The statute of limitations requires she then “conduct a reasonable investigation of all potential causes of that injury.””
“Zuo’s subsequent actions—seeking further X-rays and MRIs and conducting Internet research—show that she was concerned about the pain she continued to suffer. But there is nothing in her complaint and amended complaint to suggest that she took such further steps until almost three years after physical therapy, when she underwent an X-ray in February 2022 and an MRI in May 2022.”
“Although we are sympathetic to Zuo’s description of ongoing pain for which she has not received compensation, it is clear from the face of the amended complaint that she suffered appreciable harm during and after physical therapy in June 2019 … Thus, her cause of action for medical malpractice is time-barred because the statute of limitations has run.”
Source Zuo v. Select CAL Physical Therapy CA6.
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