Maryland Medical Malpractice Statute Of Limitations
The Maryland statute of limitations applicable to negligence claims against health care providers is set forth in Section 5-109(a) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (“CJP”):
An action for damages for an injury arising out of the rendering of or failure to render professional services by a health care provider . . . shall be filed within the earlier of:
(1) Five years of the time the injury was committed; or
(2) Three years of the date the injury was discovered.
Subsection (d) of the statute provides that “the filing of a claim with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office [(HCADRO)] . . . shall be deemed the filing of an action.” Under the statute, a plaintiff’s claim filed more than five years after “the time the injury was committed” is barred by limitations, regardless of when the injury is discovered.
In a Maryland medical malpractice case on appeal in which the trial court entered summary judgment for the defendants because the plaintiff allegedly filed her Maryland medical malpractice claim too late, the Appellate Court of Maryland set forth the following facts not in dispute: “Dr. Osborne’s and Ms. Grgac’s testimony clearly establishes that, no later than 2011, Ms. Grgac experienced an injury caused by Dr. Dash’s failure to diagnose her MS. Dr. Osborne opined that all of Ms. Grgac’s 2008 and 2010 symptoms were caused by MS. He testified that treatment for MS “can help mitigate and reduce the frequency of relapses, the number of MRI lesions and the risk of permanent disability.” He also testified that patients have worse outcomes if their treatment is delayed, and that as more lesions develop on the brain, MS can become “more challenging” to treat effectively. According to Dr. Osborne, the neck stiffness and shoulder pain Ms. Grgac experienced in 2011 were caused by MS. He further opined that the new lesions visible on the 2011 MRI were caused by MS and indicated that the disease was progressing between 2010 and 2011. Ms. Grgac testified that she continued to experience pain and numbness after her appointment with Dr. Dash in 2010, through April 2011. She also testified that she experienced various symptoms at unspecified times prior to May 2015.”
“Thus, the uncontradicted testimony of Ms. Grgac and Dr. Osborne demonstrates that Ms. Grgac was experiencing manifestations of the undiagnosed MS in 2011. As noted, these manifestations included both the additional brain lesions shown on the 2011 MRI and the pain, stiffness, and numbness she continued to experience after her last appointment with Dr. Dash in 2010. Ms. Grgac’s argument that these symptoms do not qualify as an “injury” because they did not affect her life in a significant way misses the point. Numerous cases have held that a legally cognizable injury occurs at the first instance of harm, not when the most severe harm occurs … Ms. Grgac “cannot run away from the testimony of her expert[] establishing that the statute of limitations began to run at the latest” when the 2011 MRI objectively showed that her MS was worsening, which was corroborated by her reports of MS symptoms.”
The Appellate Court of Maryland held in its unpublished Opinion dated November 14, 2023: “Because the uncontradicted evidence shows that Ms. Grgac experienced an injury in 2011 resulting from Dr. Dash’s failure to diagnose MS, her claim filed in December 2020 is time-barred. Accordingly, the circuit court properly granted summary judgment.”
Source GRGAC v. Dash, No. 2000 September Term, 2022.
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