Lower Court Summary:
Defendants, Williamson Medical Center and five of its employees, appeal from the denial
of their motion to dismiss this medical malpractice action. They contend the action is time
barred because it was filed more than one year after the cause of action accrued, in violation
of the one year statute of limitations applicable to Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability
Act actions, codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 29-20-305(b). The trial court, however,
found that the action was timely filed because it was commenced within the 120-day
extension afforded to the plaintiffs pursuant to an amendment to the Tennessee Medical
Malpractice Act, codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 29-26-121(c) (2009). We have
determined that the amendment codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 29-26-121(a)-(c)
applies, notwithstanding the one-year statute of limitations provision under the Governmental
Tort Liability Act, that the plaintiffs’ compliance with the pre-suit notification provision in
Tennessee Code Annotate § 29-26-121(a) extended the statute of limitations by 120 days, and
that this action was timely filed within the 120-day extension. Therefore, were affirm.