On August 15, 2013, Clayton D. Richards was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (“VUMC”) to undergo a medical procedure. Mr. Richards remained at VUMC until August 29, 2013, at which point he was discharged to a different hospital’s inpatient rehabilitation facility with bilateral lower extremity paralysis. Mr. Richards has remained paralyzed since the initial surgery.
Mr. Richards filed a lawsuit against VUMC on December 12, 2014, alleging that his injuries incurred in August of 2013 “were the direct and proximate result of [VUMC]’s negligent failure to establish and enforce appropriate protocols, negligent failure to develop, maintain and enforce adequate hospital systems, and negligent failure to hire and train sufficient qualified staff.” Although his claims were filed outside of the applicable one-year statute of limitations period, the claims were timely filed because Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(c) extends “the applicable statutes of limitations and repose . . . for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of expiration of the statute of limitations and statute of repose applicable to that provider” when proper notice is given to a provider as provided in section 29-26-121(a).
On October 4, 2019, the trial court entered an Order of Voluntary Nonsuit, granting “a voluntary dismissal without prejudice against [VUMC] to the refiling of th[e] cause of action” pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 41.01.
Mr. Richards refiled his complaint on January 28, 2021. In doing so, Mr. Richards relied upon Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-1-105’s saving statute (“Saving Statute”), which reads in pertinent part:
If [an] action is commenced within the time limited by a rule or statute of limitation, but the judgment or decree is rendered against the plaintiff upon any ground not concluding the plaintiff’s right of action, or where the judgment or decree is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, and is arrested, or reversed on appeal, the plaintiff, or the plaintiff’s representatives and privies, as the cases may be, may, from time to time, commence a new action within one (1) year after the reversal or arrest.
Although evident that Mr. Richards did not refile within one year of the dismissal of his earlier lawsuit as required by the Saving Statute, he asserted that he had timely refiled suit because he had provided notice to VUMC via
certified mail on September 15, 2020, “in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121.” Mr. Richards presumed that his provision of notice to VUMC triggered the 120-day extension referenced in section 29-26-121(c), as was the case in his first lawsuit.
VUMC argued that Mr. Richards’ claims were time-barred because Mr. Richards had “failed to file th[e] lawsuit within the one-year period provided by Tenn. Code Ann. [sections] 29-26-116 and/or 28-1-105.” “Furthermore,” VUMC asserted, “[Mr. Richards] is not entitled to any extension under Tenn. Code Ann. [section] 29-26-121(c) because [the Saving Statute] is not a statute of limitations or repose and/or [Mr. Richards] previously took advantage of Tenn. Code Ann. [section] 29-26-121(c)’s extension in his first lawsuit against VUMC.”
The trial court granted VUMC’s motion to dismiss.
The Tennessee Supreme Court stated in its Opinion filed on January 22, 2025: “Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(c) reads in relevant part: When notice is given to a provider as provided in [section 29-26-121], the applicable statutes of limitations and repose shall be extended for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of expiration of the statute of limitations and statute of repose applicable to that provider. Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(c) (emphasis added). Notably absent from section 29-26-121(c) is any reference to the Saving Statute … It would have been simple for the General Assembly to list the Saving Statute alongside the applicable statutes of limitations and repose in section 29-26-121(c). Yet, no reference to the Saving Statute is found in the text of the statute.”
The Tennessee Supreme Court held: ” … the 120-day extension in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(c) is inapplicable to actions refiled pursuant to the Saving Statute in Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-1-105. As a result, we affirm the trial court’s order granting VUMC’s motion to dismiss this action.”
Source Richards v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, No. M2022-00597-SC-R11-CV.
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