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Court Rules Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations Applies to Misfilled Prescription Claim
The following case stemmed from these facts: the patient was being treated for hypertension with 2 mg of hydralazine, twice a day. At the end of May 2015, the patient had his prescription filled at a pharmacy where it was misfilled as 25 mg of hydroxyzine, rather than the prescribed 2 mg of hydralazine. Two weeks later, the patient was hospitalized after passing out and crashing while driving.
Over a year later, in November 2016, the patient sent the pharmacy a notice of claim letter notifying it that the patient was going to sue for “pharmaceutical negligence and resultant damages.” In May 2018, the patient finally did so.
The plaintiff’s complaint was phrased in terms of plain and simple negligence (not medical malpractice), but he attached two exhibits to the complaint: the notice of claim letter sent to the pharmacy, and the plaintiff’s “certificate of consultation required in medical malpractice actions.” In the complaint, he claimed negligence per se, general negligence, negligent misrepresentation, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and gross negligence against the pharmacy for misfilling the prescription.
The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case in Mississippi, where the case took place, was 2 years; otherwise, it would fall under a 3-year statute of limitations period.
The pharmacy moved to dismiss, claiming that the plaintiff’s suit was barred by the 2-year statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases. The plaintiff argued that because he filed the suit against the pharmacy rather than the pharmacist, the 3-year statute of limitations for general negligence should apply.
The case worked its way up to the state’s Supreme Court who sided with the pharmacy, noting that the medical malpractice statute of limitations mentions pharmacists specifically, and because it does, “It is clear that the Legislature intended for tortious injuries arising out of the course of professional services provided by a licensed pharmacist be subject to a 2-year statute of limitations.” The case was dismissed.
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