Smith v. Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc., 90-01216
| Decision Date | 26 April 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-01216,90-01216 |
| Parties | 16 Fla. L. Weekly 1134 John SMITH and Mary Smith, individually and on behalf of their minor child, Jack Smith, Appellants, v. SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BLOOD BANK, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Elizabeth Koebel Russo of Law Offices of Elizabeth, Russo, P.A., Miami, Peeples, Earl & Blank, Sarasota, and Anderson Moss Parks & Russo, Miami, for appellants.
Ted R. Manry, III, D. James Kadyk, and Harold D. Oehler of Macfarlane, Ferguson, Allison & Kelly, Tampa, for appellee.
Thomas J. Guilday of Huey, Guilday, Kuersteiner & Tucker, P.A., Tallahassee, for amicus curiae Florida Ass'n of Blood Banks.
Raymond T. Elligett, Jr., and F. Ronald Fraley of Shackleford, Farrior, Stallings & Evans, P.A., Tampa, for amicus curiae Gerald Silva.
The appellants John and Mary Smith challenge the order dismissing their cause with prejudice due to the running of the statute of limitations. The Smiths contend that the trial court erroneously applied the medical malpractice statute of limitations because their cause of action sounds in negligence.
In February 1984, the Smiths' infant son was hospitalized for suspected spinal meningitis. During his hospitalization, the infant received ten units of cryoprecipitate, a blood component derived from donated human blood, supplied by the appellee Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc. In April 1986, the Smiths were informed that the cryoprecipitate their son had received had been derived from the blood of a donor who had tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus, which virus causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome. That same month, the Smiths' son's blood tested HIV positive. In January 1990, the Smiths filed a complaint for damages against Southwest. In response, Southwest filed a motion to dismiss alleging that it is entitled to reliance on section 95.11(4)(b), Florida Statutes (1989), the medical malpractice statute of limitations, because it is a health care provider or, in the alternative, it is in privity with the health care provider hospital at which the Smiths' son received the cryoprecipitate. The trial judge granted the motion to dismiss, finding that Southwest was in privity with a provider of health care as contemplated by section 95.11(4)(b). Consequently, the judge dismissed the Smiths' complaint with prejudice because it had been filed more than two years from the time the Smiths had knowledge of both the...
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Silva v. Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc.
...consolidated cases of Silva v. Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc., 578 So.2d 503 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), and Smith v. Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc., 578 So.2d 501 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), because of direct and express conflict with Durden v. American Hospital Supply Corp., 375 So.2d 1096 (Fla. ......
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Padgett v. Civitan Regional Blood Center, Inc., 91-3615
...and relying on Silva v. Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc., 578 So.2d 503 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), and Smith v. Southwest Florida Blood Bank, Inc., 578 So.2d 501 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). Appellant appeals the entry of final judgment in favor of appellee. We vacate the judgment and remand for further ......