Minor’s Malpractice Lawsuit Filed Too Late: The Court of Appeals of North Carolina (“North Carolina Appellate Court”) stated in its opinion filed on August 16, 2022 in a North Carolina medical malpractice case involving a thirteen-year-old minor allegedly injured as a result of medical negligence, “Defendants assert the statute of limitations as a complete bar to plaintiff’s claim. Defendants argue the plain language of subsection (c) provides a three-year limitations period for accrual of a medical malpractice claim for a minor over the age of ten. We conclude that § 1-17(c) controls, and plaintiff’s suit is untimely.”
§ 1-17(b)
§ 1-17 Subsection (b) applies to professional malpractice actions if the plaintiff is a minor. § 1-17(b) states: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, and except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, an action on behalf of a minor for malpractice arising out of the performance of or failure to perform professional services shall be commenced within the limitations of time specified in G.S. 1-15(c), except that if those time limitations expire before the minor attains the full age of 19 years, the action may be brought before the minor attains the full age of 19 years.”
§ 1-17(c)
§ 1-17 Subsection (c) states, in pertinent part: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) and (b) of this section, an action on behalf of a minor for injuries alleged to have resulted from malpractice arising out of a health care provider’s performance of or failure to perform professional services shall be commenced within the limitations of time specified in G.S. 1-15(c), except as follows: (1) If the time limitations specified in G.S. 1-15(c) expire before the minor attains the full age of 10 years, the action may be brought any time before the minor attains the full age of 10 years.”
Under subsection (c), a plaintiff who is older than age seven when his medical malpractice cause of action accrued does not receive any extension to the statute of limitations.
The North Carolina Appellate Court stated: “Subsection (c) is a narrower and later addition to the statute. It applies to a subset of claims to which § 1-17(b) also applies, specifically medical malpractice as opposed to a more general professional malpractice. It provides that, despite the provisions in subsections (a) and (b), in a medical malpractice action on behalf of a minor, the usual § 1-15(c) statute of limitations applies. Except, if the statute of limitations expires before the minor turns ten years old, then it is extended until the minor’s tenth birthday. Under § 1-15(c), the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice action is three years (plus an additional year under the latent discovery rule). § 1-15(c).”
The North Carolina Appellate Court held: “Subsection 1-17(c) controls the applicable statute of limitations in this case. Plaintiff was over the age of ten at the time of accrual of his claim. Thus, the three-year statute of limitations that ordinarily governs medical malpractice actions applies. Plaintiff’s lawsuit is untimely because his medical malpractice action accrued when he was thirteen years old, and he filed suit five years later.”
Source Morris v. Rodeberg, 2022-NCCOA-555.
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