Marcano Delaney v. Puerto Rico Children's Hospital
Docket: Civil No. 15-1565 (BJM)
Court: District Court, D. Puerto Rico; May 2, 2016; Federal District Court
Plaintiffs Flor Marcano Delaney and El-min Calderón García filed an amended complaint against Puerto Rico Children’s Hospital and Dr. Victor Ortiz Justiniano, alleging medical malpractice under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code for actions during their son N.C.M.'s surgery that resulted in permanent cerebral palsy. The defendants moved to dismiss the claim as time-barred, but the motion was denied. To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must provide fair notice and state a plausible legal claim, with factual allegations supporting each material element. The court evaluates the motion by presuming the plaintiff's allegations as true and drawing reasonable inferences in their favor, without engaging in fact-finding or forecasting the likelihood of success on the merits.
N.C.M. was born on February 27, 2013, and was hospitalized the following day for suspected bowel obstruction. He underwent gastrointestinal surgery on October 13, during which he suffered cardiac arrest due to Dr. Ortiz's alleged improper medical procedure. N.C.M. was neurologically normal prior to the surgery but was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The plaintiffs initially filed a malpractice complaint in Puerto Rico state court on December 18, 2014, which was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice, and subsequently refiled in federal court on May 12, 2015.
Medical malpractice claims in Puerto Rico are governed by Articles 1802 and 1803 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, establishing a one-year statute of limitations that starts when the injured party becomes aware of the harm and the responsible party. The statute of limitations is tolled if the party files a judicial claim. The 'restart rule' allows plaintiffs one year from a dismissal without prejudice to refile against previously joined defendants. Defendants argue the claim is time-barred, asserting the alleged malpractice on October 14, 2013, necessitated a complaint by October 14, 2014, while plaintiffs assert the limitations period began on June 27, 2014, after receiving medical records for evaluation. They contend that filing the complaint on December 18, 2014, tolled the statute, and that the one-year period restarted post-dismissal on April 16, 2015. The court may consider documents outside the pleadings related to the claim, as their authenticity is undisputed. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court recognizes two types of knowledge that trigger the statute: actual knowledge of the injury and the responsible party, or constructive notice from facts that would lead to such knowledge with due diligence. The limitations period does not commence until the plaintiff has sufficient information to pursue the claim.
A party must have adequate facts to establish the cause of damages, requiring knowledge of both the injury and its causal link to the allegedly negligent medical procedure. In this case, plaintiffs assert they were not informed about events in the surgery room and received relevant documents from the hospital four months post-surgery. A plaintiff filing a lawsuit more than a year after the injury must demonstrate a lack of knowledge regarding the injury's cause at that time; if proven, the one-year statute of limitations can begin at a later date. Knowledge necessary to commence the statute includes awareness of both the harm and its origin. The plaintiffs argued they only learned about their cause of action after the injury on October 14, 2013, when they were discharged from the hospital on November 10, 2013. They requested medical records shortly after discharge but did not receive them until February 6, 2014. Defendants did not contest that the doctors failed to inform the plaintiffs about the injury's cause prior to this date. The conclusion drawn is that the one-year prescription period commenced on February 6, 2014, and since the original suit was filed on December 18, 2014, the statute of limitations was tolled, beginning a new one-year period on April 16, 2014, after the suit was voluntarily dismissed. Consequently, the defendants' motion to dismiss was denied. Under Puerto Rican law, individuals causing damage through negligence must repair such damage, and the statute of limitations for civil liability actions is one year from the time the aggrieved party gained knowledge of the facts.
