Montalvo v. Gonzalez-Amparo
| Decision Date | 16 November 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-1405.,08-1405. |
| Parties | Zoraida MONTALVO, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Juana Montalvo Colon, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Carlos GONZALEZ-AMPARO, M.D., Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Gonzalez-Doe, David Rivera-Jimenez, M.D., Lilliam I. Velez, Conjugal Partnership Rivera-Velez, George Alcantara-Cardi, M.D., Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Alcantara-Doe, Elizabeth Martinez-Matos, Dr. Susoni Health Community Services, Corp., Hospital Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste, Hospital El Buen Pastor, Inc., Policlinica De Salud Del Norte, Inc., Centro De Diagnostico y Tratamiento De Villa Los Santos, XYZ Insurance Company, Securos Triple-s, Inc., Sindicato De Aseguradores Para La Suscripcion De Seguros De Responsabilidad Professional Medico Hospitalaria (Simed), Walmar Domenech, Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Domenech-Doe, Yadira G. Mateo-Jimenez, John Doe, Conjugal Partnership Doe-Mateo-Jiminez, Manuel Matos, Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Matos-Doe, Jose Rolon, Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Rolon-Doe, Miguel Roman-Pagan, Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Roman-Doe, Servicos Radiologicos Associados, d/b/a Arecibo Radiology Imaging Center, Conjugal Partnership Martinez-Doe, Defendants, Appellees, Victor Perez-Orengo, Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Perez-Doe, Amado Velez-Rivera, Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Velez-Doe, Maria Alonso-Suarez, M.D., John Doe, Conjugal Partnership Doe-Alonso, Jorge Perez-Blas, M.D., Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership Perez-Doe, Francisco De-La-Cruz, M.D., Jane Doe, Conjugal Partnership De-La-Cruz-Doe, I.P.A. Policlinica Villa Los Santos, Inc., Grupo Medico De Salud Del Norte, C.S.P., Arturo Melero, Victor Perez-Orengo, Mayra Arlene Torres-Morales, Lydia Velez, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Tania M. Pagan with whom The Pagan Law Firm, P.C. was on brief for appellant.
Hector E. Ramírez-Carbo with whom Ramonita Dieppa Gonzalez and Vivas & Vivas Law Office were on brief for appellees.
Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, LEVAL* and LIPEZ, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Zoraida Montalvo (hereinafter "Zoraida" or the "daughter") appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico dismissing as time-barred her suit alleging malpractice by the providers of medical care to her deceased mother, Juana Montalvo-Colón (hereinafter "Juana" or the "mother"). Because we conclude that Zoraida brought the action within the time allowed by the applicable statute of limitations, we vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings.
From February 1999 to February 2003, the Defendants provided medical care to Juana. In February 2003, she was diagnosed for the first time with lung cancer. She then traveled to New York, where she was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital on Staten Island and was found to have terminal, Stage IV lung cancer. She was discharged on March 5, 2003 and remained in New York with her daughter Zoraida until her death a month and a half later, on April 20, 2003.
On April 20, 2004,1 one year after her mother's death, Zoraida filed a complaint in the United States District Court for Puerto Rico. Under Puerto Rico's general tort statute, 31 L.P.R.A. § 5141,2 the suit claimed entitlement to damages for medical malpractice on two different theories. One claim, brought by Zoraida as administrator and heir of her mother's estate, sought damages for the pain suffered by her mother as the result of the Defendants' malpractice. The second claim was Zoraida's personal claim, seeking damages for her own emotional suffering (as well as expenses incurred) as the result of the Defendants' malpractice which resulted in the wrongful death of her mother.3
The Defendants moved for summary judgment on the theory that the suit was untimely under Puerto Rico's one year limitation period. They took the position that the claims had accrued by March 5, 2003, the date Juana was discharged from St. Vincent's hospital with a diagnosis of advanced, terminal cancer, which gave notice to both mother and daughter of any failure on the part of the Defendants to diagnose properly. Because the suit was not filed until more than one year later, they argued it was untimely.
The court granted summary judgment, finding the suit untimely. The court reasoned that the claims accrued during February or March 2003 when Zoraida and her mother heard the diagnosis of the New York doctors at which time they knew or should have known of the inadequacy of the medical care received in Puerto Rico. Because the suit was not brought until April 20, 2004, which was more than a year after the district court found the claim had accrued, the court ruled that it was barred by the statute of limitations. Montalvo v. González-Amparo, Civ. No. 05-1665(JAF) (D.P.R. Feb. 20, 2008).
"We review the district court's decision to grant defendant's motion for summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds de novo, construing the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party." Douglas v. York County, 433 F.3d 143, 149 (1st Cir.2005). "We will affirm if, based on our independent review of the evidentiary record, there is no genuine issue of material fact and the undisputed facts indicate that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Id. (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)).
I. Statute of Limitations
A federal court sitting in diversity applies the choice of law rules of the forum state. See Day & Zimmermann Inc. v. Challoner, 423 U.S. 3, 4, 96 S.Ct. 167, 46 L.Ed.2d 3 (1975). "Puerto Rico applies the law of the place of the tort, the lex loci delicti"; accordingly, Puerto Rico law governs the action. Jimenez Puig v. Avis Rent a Car Sys., 574 F.2d 37, 40 (1st Cir.1978). When applying Puerto Rico law to substantive matters, Puerto Rico courts also apply Puerto Rico's statute of limitations, as well as the concomitant tolling provisions of those statutes. Valedon Martinez v. Hosp. Presbiteriano de la Comunidad, Inc., 806 F.2d 1128, 1133 (1st Cir.1986).
The limitation period for actions brought under § 5141 is one year "from the time the aggrieved person had knowledge thereof." 31 L.P.R.A. § 5298(2). Accordingly, the claims are not barred if they accrued on or after April 20, 2003 (one year before the initial complaint was filed) or if the statute of limitations was tolled to that date.
The district court determined that the claims had accrued by March 5, 2003, when Juana was discharged from St. Vincent's Hospital with a diagnosis of advanced cancer, and found no basis for tolling the one-year statute. We disagree, and find that each of Plaintiff's claims was within the limitations period.
Section 5141 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, as construed by the courts of Puerto Rico, provides that a close relative (including a child) of a victim of a tort may sue for her own mental suffering occasioned by the suffering of the direct victim of the tort, without need to show that the plaintiff incurred either physical injury or economic loss. See Correa v. Hosp. San Francisco, 69 F.3d 1184, 1197 (1st Cir.1995)( that under this section, "mental suffering is generally just as compensable as physical harm" (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Burke v. Compagnie Nationale Air France, 699 F.Supp. 1016, 1018 (D.P.R.1988))); see also Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Gonzalez Rivera, 358 F.2d 480, 483 (1st Cir.1966) ( ). Zoraida's complaint alleges that she (Zoraida) suffered damages in the form of "serious mental anguish and moral pain as a result of the death of" her mother, as well as funeral expenses, and therefore states her own personal claim for the wrongful death of her mother.
Under Puerto Rico law, such a claim for wrongful death "arises at the time of death." Arturet-Vélez v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 429 F.3d 10, 14 (1st Cir.2005). The date of accrual for the daughter's personal claim was therefore no earlier than April 20, 2003, the day her mother died, and her complaint, filed on April 20, 2004, was within the one-year statute of limitations.
Puerto Rico law provides that a decedent's claim for tortiously inflicted pain and suffering sustained by the decedent prior to death can be transmitted to her heirs. See Morel v. Daimler Chrysler AG, 558 F.Supp.2d 147, 148 (D.P.R.2007) . In addition to her personal claim for her own suffering, Zoraida, as administratrix and heir of her mother's estate, brings such a claim seeking damages for her mother's suffering as a result of the Defendants' medical malpractice.
The Defendants contend that the mother's claim was extinguished by prescription one year after the diagnosis at the New York hospital in February 2003 made her aware of the earlier failure of the Defendants to diagnose her cancer. However under Puerto Rico law, the statute of limitations for such a claim is extended by operation of 32 L.P.R.A. § 255.
Section 255 provides: "If a person entitled to bring an action dies before the expiration of the...
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