Carreras v. Marroquin
| Decision Date | 01 April 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 09-0857,09-0857 |
| Parties | Jose Carreras, M.D., P.A., Petitioner, v. Carlos Francisco Marroquin, et al., Respondents |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
On Petition for Review from the
Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas
Argued October 14, 2010
In this dispute, parents brought wrongful death claims against a physician who allegedly caused their adult child's death. The parents attempted to toll the statute of limitations by sending pre-suit notice of their health care liability claims to the physician shortly before the statute of limitations ran, but failed to accompany it with an authorization form for the release of their daughter's medical information as required by Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. After the parents filed suit, the doctor moved for summary judgment, arguing that the notice alone did not toll the statute of limitations, and the suit therefore was untimely. The trial court denied the motion and entered an agreed order permitting appeal. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(d). The court of appeals affirmed the denial. 297 S.W.3d 420, 424 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi-Edinburg 2009, pet. granted). Because we hold that Chapter 74 requires that an authorization form accompany the provision of notice for the statute of limitations to be tolled, we reverse and render.
Twenty-three-year-old Priscilla Marroquin fell off a bicycle and broke her leg on December 16, 2001. Priscilla was treated at Starr County Hospital in Rio Grande City, Texas, and then transferred to Mission Hospital in Mission, Texas. At Mission Hospital, Dr. Jose Carreras operated on Priscilla's leg on December 18, 2001. Priscilla died on December 20, 2001 due to bilateral pulmonary embolisms, bilateral fat embolisms,1 respiratory depression, and cardiac arrest allegedly resulting from insufficient post-surgery treatment. Priscilla's parents, Carlos and Cynthia Marroquin (the Marroquins), prosecuted claims for damages resulting from Priscilla's wrongful death.
Health care liability claims are governed by special procedures in Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. One of these is pre-suit notice; health care liability plaintiffs must provide written notice of a health care liability claim "by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each physician or health care provider against whom such claim is being made at least 60 days before the filing of a suit . . . ." Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem . Code § 74.051(a). Providing notice of a health care liability claim will toll the statute of limitations for seventy-five days, if the notice is "given as provided" in Chapter 74. Id. § 74.051(c). Chapter 74 requires that "notice must be accompanied by [an] authorization form for release of protected health information . . . ." Id.§ 74.051(a). Section 74.052 provides that failure to accompany notice with such an authorization results in an abatement of sixty days from the date an authorization is received. Id. § 74.052. The statute prescribes the form and content of the required authorization form. Id. § 74.052(c).
on December 17, 2003, two days before the two-year statute of limitations would have expired, the Marroquins provided Dr. Carreras with notice of their health care liability claims. However, the Marroquins did not send an authorization form to Dr. Carreras at that time. on February 26, 2004, the Marroquins filed suit in Hidalgo County. After his counsel refused to accept service on his behalf because of the possibility that the statute of limitations had run, Dr. Carreras was served personally. He filed a plea in abatement and answer objecting to the case proceeding because he had not received the statutorily required authorization and requesting an abatement under section 74.052. The trial court granted Dr. Carreras's plea in abatement on June 2, 2004.
Two weeks later, the Marroquins provided Dr. Carreras with another notice including a list of medical providers and an authorization form that complied with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), but not with the state requirements under Chapter 74.2 Counsel for Dr. Carreras sent a letter to the Marroquins on September 7, 2004 advising them that the authorization provided was not in the form specified by section 74.052. The Marroquins responded by providing Dr. Carreras with an authorization form on September 10, 2004 that complied with sections 74.051 and 74.052, approximately nine months after the Marroquins provided their original notice unaccompanied by an authorization and almost seven months after they filed suit.
Dr. Carreras moved for summary judgment, claiming that the Marroquins' claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The Marroquins argued that notice was provided and the suit was filed within the statute of limitations as tolled by Chapter 74, and contended that the uncooperative nature of the defense counsel was responsible for the confusion regarding the authorization form. in a letter ruling, the trial court held that the requirement for notice and an authorization form under sections 74.051 and 74.052 were separate. Because notice had been given, the statute of limitations was tolled, notwithstanding the Marroquins' failure to simultaneously provide the statutorily required authorization. The trial court therefore denied Dr. Carreras's motion for summary judgment.3 The court issued a written order for interlocutory appeal, and Dr. Carreras appealed. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(d).4 The court of appeals affirmed the trial court. 297 S.W.3d at 424. Dr. Carreras filed a petition for review with this Court, which we granted.
Our jurisdiction over interlocutory appeals is limited. One ground for our jurisdiction is for cases in which "one court holds differently from another" on a question of law material to a decision of the case such that "there is inconsistency in their respective decisions that should be clarified to remove unnecessary uncertainty in the law and unfairness to litigants." Tex. Gov't Code §§ 22.001(e), .225(e). We have jurisdiction over this petition as there are two courts of appeals opinions that conflict with two other appellate courts' opinions in interpreting the effect of sections 74.051 and 74.052 on tolling of the statute of limitations when a medical authorization form has not been provided as required under the statute. In Nicholson v. Shinn, the Houston First Court of Appeals held that "notice is not proper, and the statute of limitations [is] not tolled" when notice is provided without an authorization form or with a deficient authorization form. No. 01-07-00973-CV, 2009 WL 3152111, at *4 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 1, 2009, no pet.). A similar conclusion was reached by the El Paso Court of Appeals in Rabatin v. Kidd, where the court held that both notice and an authorization form were required to toll the statute of limitations. 281 S.W.3d 558, 562 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2008, no pet.). on the other hand, two courts of appeals—including the court of appeals in this case—have held that failing to accompany notice with an authorization form does not prevent tolling of the statute of limitations, but merely allows the defendant to obtain an abatement until sixty days after the authorization form is received. Hill v. Russell, 247 S.W.3d 356, 360 (Tex. App.—Austin 2008, no pet.); Carreras, 297 S.W.3d at 423-24.
This is an interlocutory appeal certified by the trial court after denial of a motion for summary judgment. We review issues of statutory construction and summary judgments de novo. McIntyre v. Ramirez, 109 S.W.3d 741, 745 (Tex. 2003); Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Knott, 128 S.W.3d 211, 215 (Tex. 2003).
Health care liability claims have a two-year limitations period. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.251(a). There is no dispute that the Marroquins filed suit more than two years after their causes of action against Dr. Carreras accrued. However, the Civil Practice and Remedies Code provides for tolling of the statute of limitations for a health care liability claim if notice of the claim is "given as provided" in Chapter 74 to the health care provider. Id. §§ 74.051, .052. Section 74.051(a) requires that "notice must be accompanied by [an] authorization form for release of protected health information as required under Section 74.052," permitting the health care provider access to the claimant's pertinent medical records. Id. § 74.051(a). The question before us is whether notice provided without an authorization form is considered to be given "as provided" in Chapter 74 and effective to toll the statute of limitations, or whether notice given without an authorization form is insufficient to toll limitations.
Statutory interpretation begins by examining the text of the statute. McIntyre, 109 S.W.3d at 745. Section 74.051 provides:
(a) Any person or his authorized agent asserting a health care liability claim shall give written notice of such claim by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each physician or health care provider against whom such claim is being made at least 60 days before the filing of a suit in any court of this state based upon a health care liability claim. The notice must be accompanied by the authorization form for release of protected health information as required under Section 74.052.
(c) Notice given as provided in this chapter shall toll the applicable statute of limitations to and including a period of 75 days following the giving of the notice, and this tolling shall apply to all parties and potential parties.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.051 (a), (c) (emphasis added). In addition, section 74.052 provides:
(a) Notice of a health care claim under section 74.051 must be...
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