PA 07-65—SB 1384

Judiciary Committee

AN ACT CONCERNING THE TOLLING OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN WRONGFUL DEATH CASES

SUMMARY: This act specifies that the automatic 90-day extension for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit applies to lawsuits where the alleged victim died as a result of the alleged malpractice. By law, the extension is granted to allow the petitioner to make a reasonable inquiry to determine whether there are grounds for a good faith belief that medical malpractice has occurred.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2007

BACKGROUND

Related Cases

In at least three cases, defendants challenged on constitutional and statutory construction grounds whether the 90-day extension provision that applies to medical malpractice injury claims also apply to a medical malpractice wrongful death claim. In each case, the court has ruled that the 90-day extension applies to wrongful death cases and that no constitutional violations occurred (Plourde v. Hartford Hospital, 40 Conn. L. Rptr. 807 (2006); Desmini v. Bristol Hospital, Inc. , Docket No. CV 05 4003250 (January 12, 2006, Domnarski, J. ); and Sneath v. Roche, Docket No. CV 98 0585453 (March 2, 2004, Hessessey, J. T. R. )). Because these are Superior Court rulings, as opposed to an Appellate Court or Supreme Court rulings, they do not set a binding precedent for other cases.

OLR Tracking: GC: KM: JL: dw