Statute of limitations upheld in case involving Hedrick Medical Center and wrongful death lawsuits

Hedrick Medical Center
Share To Your Social Network

The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld rulings by the Livingston County Circuit Court and Western Missouri Court of Appeals involving defendants Saint Luke’s Health System, Hedrick Medical Center, and Community Health Group.

Five plaintiffs had appealed to the Supreme Court on September 12th of 2018. Attorneys for both sides made oral arguments April 9th before the Supreme Court with all of the justices voting to reaffirm the decision by Special Judge Daren Adkins who was assigned to the Livingston County case.

Adkins had determined the plaintiff’s alleged fraudulent concealment claims were barred by the statute of limitations. Online Supreme Court information shows Sally Boland, Sherri Lynn Harper, David Gann, Jennirae Littrell, and Helen Pittman had filed lawsuits following the deaths of family members at the hospital in Chillicothe in 2002.

The Supreme Courts’ opinion released Tuesday was written by Judge Paul Wilson who believes the survivors knew in 2011 of the decades-old precedent that alleged fraudulent concealment would not support the wrongful death statute of limitations.

Wrongful death suits were filed by the plaintiffs in 2010 and ’11 and five separate petitions alleging fraudulent concealment of information were filed October 18th of 2016. Those petitions allege, by withholding and concealing knowledge of an employees’ conduct in causing the deaths in 2002, the families were damaged to the extent they lost their right to timely file wrongful death causes of action.

The justices concluded the five-year statute of limitations prevents the plaintiffs from asserting claims of concealing or withholding information dating to October 2016.


Share To Your Social Network

Related posts