Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A California appellate court held that the one-year limitations period applicable to medical negligence claims under the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §340.5, applied to the claims of a motorist who was injured after an ambulance rear-ended him.

Francisco Gutierrez was traveling on a highway when he came to a stop. Uriel Tostado, an EMT who was driving an ambulance transporting a patient from one medical facility to another, rear-ended Gutierrez’s vehicle. Within two years, Gutierrez sued Tostado and his employer ProTransport-1, alleging claims for personal injury. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing the plaintiff’s claims were time-barred under MICRA’s one-year limitations statute. The trial court held that because Tostado was performing a patient transport at the time of the incident, he was rendering professional services and the one-year limitations period for medical negligence claims applied.

Affirming, the appellate court held that under §340.5, claims against health care providers for professional negligence must be filed within one year. Under MICRA, professional negligence is a negligent act or omission by a health care provider in the rendering of professional services. Citing case law, the court added that only injuries suffered as a result of the provision of medical care to patients are covered. Section 340.5, the court said, does not require the services to have been performed for the plaintiff.

Here, the court found that Tostado was transporting a patient who was receiving medical care at the time of the collision. This qualifies as the provision of medical care, and the act of driving the ambulance was an integral part of that care. Thus, the court concluded, driving the ambulance qualifies as the provision of professional services, and MICRA’s one-year limitations statute applied to the plaintiff’s negligence claims.

Citation: Gutierrez v. Tostado, 2023 WL 8296004 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 1, 2023).