Daily Blast October 18, 2016

Today, the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Orange County) published its opinion in Nava v. Saddleback Memorial Medical Center (Oct. 18, 2016, G052218) __ Cal.App.5th __, analyzing whether the plaintiff’s allegations that he sustained injuries while being transported in the hospital on a gurney were barred by the one-year statute of limitations for professional negligence against a health care provider. The court concluded the plaintiff’s claims were barred by the statute of limitations, relying upon the California Supreme Court’s opinion in Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (2016) 63 Cal.4th 75, which held that Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5 “applies when negligence occurs in the use or maintenance of medical equipment or premises while medical care is being provided to the plaintiff.” (Slip opn., p. 2.)

The court reasoned that “[t]he transfer of [plaintiff] in the hospital on a gurney was integrally related to [plaintiff’s] medical treatment or diagnosis, and, therefore, the injury occurred in the rendering of professional services.” (Slip opn., p. 2.) “Whether the fall occurred while [plaintiff] was being transferred from the gurney to an X-ray table in the radiology department, or from the gurney to an ambulance, such a transfer must have been made subject to a medical professional’s directive.” (Id. at p. 8.)