Boland v. Saint Luke’s Health Sys., Inc. – Aug. 2015 (Summary)

WRONGFUL DEATH

Boland v. Saint Luke’s Health Sys., Inc., No. SC 93906 (Mo. Aug. 18, 2015)

The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed a trial court’s ruling that five wrongful death lawsuits were time-barred by a three-year statute of limitations under Missouri statute. The suits were consolidated and all arose from treatment received from the same employee of a hospital. The employee was a respiratory specialist who intentionally administered a lethal dose of succinylcholine, insulin, or other medications that resulted in the death of each of the patients. The same employee’s actions are alleged to have caused at least nine suspicious deaths and 18 suspicious medical emergencies, often involving cardiac arrest or the inability to breathe. The plaintiffs argued that there should be a delayed accrual of the statute of limitations in this case, as they claim that the hospital fraudulently concealed the facts underlying the patients’ deaths or that, alternatively, an exception should be made for fraudulent concealment.

The court was not persuaded that any exceptions to the statute of limitations should apply in this matter. The court stated that while it was difficult to reach a conclusion that left the patients without a remedy, the legislative branch of the government had determined the policy of the state and clearly fixed the time when the limitation period begins to run. Also, the court must interpret the law, not disregard it, as written by the legislature.