Lyas v. Forrest General Hospital

In January 2003, Christopher Lyas died while receiving treatment at Pine Grove Behavioral Health Center, a subsidiary of Forrest General Hospital. Shortly after Christopher’s death, his widow, Madra Lyas was visited by an employee of the Forrest County Coroner’s Office who provided her a provisional Certificate of Death which listed the immediate cause of death as “pending” and a provisional autopsy report which listed the cause and manner of Christopher’s death as “pending toxicology,” but contained pathological diagnoses of “Hypertensive Heart Disease” and “Morbid Obesity.” The employee informed Madra that Christopher probably had died of a heart attack. Seven years later, after meeting in person with the Forrest County Coroner, Madra was given Christopher’s final Certificate of Death, which professed “[c]hanges consistent with meprobamate and carisoprodol overdose” as the immediate cause of Christopher’s death. She then filed suit against Pine Grove and Forrest General Hospital, alleging that Pine Grove had caused Christopher’s death negligently by means of a prescription drug overdose. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Forrest General and Pine Grove, holding that Madra had not filed suit within the one-year statute of limitations pursuant to the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Madra appealed, arguing that the discovery rule tolled the applicable statute of limitations. Because Madra has produced evidence of her reasonable diligence during the statutory period, the Supreme Court found that a genuine issue of material fact existed on the issue of whether the statute of limitations was tolled. The Court therefore reversed the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Forrest General and remand this case for a trial on the merits. View "Lyas v. Forrest General Hospital" on Justia Law