Statute of Repose for Medical Malpractice Claims in Ohio
Medical negligence claims have drastically changed over the years. But one of the current, most controversial issues is the statute of repose. In the last five years, Ohio attorneys have experienced whiplash from the Ohio Supreme Court on this issue. The biggest change, and largest contested issue, is that the Ohio Savings Statute can no longer save a medical negligence claim if the “saved” claim is filed after the four-year period expires.
First and foremost, the statute of repose for medical negligence claims in Ohio is four (4) years. Comparatively, the statute of limitations for medical negligence claims is one (1) year. While there are exceptions to the statute of limitations, the underlying principle is that the one-year time period to file generally starts when the injury is discovered. The statute of repose, however, starts when the injury is incurred. So, what is the essential difference between these two statutes?
A statute of limitations is a bar on recovery of damages, whereas a statute of repose is an absolute bar on bringing the claim itself. In other words, if the statute of limitations passes, the court can recognize the claim, but the injured party cannot recover damages. On the other hand, a statute of repose effectively extinguishes the entirety of the claim.
Prior to the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Wilson v. Durrani, 2020-Ohio-6827, the law in Ohio was that the Saving Statute applied to both statute of limitations and repose. However, after Wilson, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the saving statute cannot save a case if the statute of repose had expired. In doing so, the Court overturned the relation-back doctrine by calling it dicta. Despite years of reliance on this common law doctrine, the Court held it was not binding and refiled matters do not relate back to the original filing as the refiled action acts as a new case entirely. The Ohio Supreme Court further found that since the new action does not relate back, any refiled (or newly filed) matter that is past the applicable statute of repose is barred.
Since its decision, the Ohio Supreme Court further expanded on this issue. First, if a defendant conceals himself or absconds from the jurisdiction of the court, the statute of repose does, in fact, toll. Second, the four-year statute of repose applies to wrongful death cases stemming from medical negligence and the saving statute cannot save these types of claims either.
According to Ohio legislature, the purpose for modifying the statute language to prevent the saving statute from applying was to promote businesses (i.e. doctors and medical professionals) to do business in Ohio. Creating a legal environment that is pro-business, however, has effectively burdened individuals who suffered at the hands of medical negligence. As this issue is controversial, it is something to keep an eye on as it appears to be a potential “malpractice trap” for plaintiffs’ attorneys
