CLAYTON D. RICHARDS v. VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER - Articles

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CLAYTON D. RICHARDS v. VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jan 22, 2025

Court: TN Supreme Court

Attorneys 1: H. Anthony Duncan, Nashville, Tennessee, and M. Todd Sandahl, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Clayton D. Richards.

Attorneys 2: Sara F. Reynolds and Ashley B. Tipton, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Attorneys 3: W. Bryan Smith, Memphis, Tennessee, and Brian G. Brooks, Greenbrier, Arkansas, for the Amicus Curiae, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association.

Judge(s): BIVINS

In this health care liability action, Clayton D. Richards asks us to consider whether the trial court erred in dismissing his complaint. Previously, Mr. Richards sued Vanderbilt University Medical Center alleging negligence. That lawsuit ended in a voluntary nonsuit. Mr. Richards refiled his complaint, which became the current action, over a year later. The trial court dismissed his complaint, holding that he had not complied with the terms of the saving statute, Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-1-105. On appeal, Mr. Richards argues that Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(c) offers him a 120-day extension of the one-year saving statute, making his lawsuit timely. We disagree and conclude that section 29-26-121(c) does not extend the saving statute. Thus, we affirm the trial court’s order granting Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s motion to dismiss.

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