Kentucky Appellate Court Revives Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After Kentucky Supreme Court Held Medical Review Panel Act Unconstitutional

Medical Review Panel Act in Kentucky ruled Unconstitutional: On July 28, 2017, Kendrick Bell, Jr. was admitted to Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Emergency Room (ER) for a drug overdose. The Hospital discharged Bell following treatment. However, Bell was returned to the ER later that day. After several days in a coma, Bell died from an anoxic brain injury.

On October 4, 2017, Bell’s sister, Lenise, was appointed administratrix of the Estate. Thereafter, on July 25, 2018, the Estate filed a proposed complaint against the Hospital defendants with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Medical Review Panel (MRP). While the proposed complaint was submitted, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued its opinion in Commonwealth v Claycomb, 566 S.W.3d 202 (Ky. 2018), holding the MRP requirement to be unconstitutional in its entirety. Claycomb became final on February 14, 2019, and the Estate filed its complaint in Jefferson Circuit Court on February 20, 2019.

In response, the Hospital defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the complaint was not filed within the one-year statute of limitations. KRS 413.180. In an order entered on February 12, 2020, the trial court agreed and granted the motion. The trial court concluded that, since the Kentucky Supreme Court held the Medical Review Panel Act (MRPA), KRS 216C.005 et seq., to be unconstitutional in its entirety, compliance with the MRP requirement could not operate to toll the running of the statute of limitations. The trial court further concluded KRS 413.270(1) had no impact on the statute of limitations because an MRP was not a “court” within the meaning of that statute. Subsequently, the trial court denied the Estate’s motion to alter, amend, or vacate, CR  59.05, and the Estate appealed.

The Court of Appeals of Kentucky stated in its September 30, 2022 opinion: “the Hospital defendants concede that the holding of Smith v. Fletcher is determinative as to the outcome of this appeal. We fully recognize that the trial court did not have the benefit of that decision when the summary judgment motion was submitted. Consequently, we cannot fault the trial court for failing to anticipate that decision. Nevertheless, we are bound to follow controlling precedent issued by our Supreme Court. SCR  1.030(8)(a). See also Special Fund v. Francis, 708 S.W.2d 641, 642 (Ky. 1986).

Therefore, we conclude that the trial court erred in determining that the Estate’s claim was untimely. Pursuant to Smith, KRS 413.270 operated to toll the running of the one-year statute of limitations for ninety days after Claycomb became final on February 14, 2019. Since the Estate filed its complaint only five days thereafter, the trial court erred by dismissing it as untimely.”

Source Estate of Bell v. Craycroft, M.D., No. 2020-CA-0360-MR.

If you or a loved one may have been injured as a result of medical malpractice in Kentucky or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Kentucky medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.

Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you.

Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.