Mississippi High Court Reinstates ‘Late’ Suit Against Hospital

The Mississippi Supreme Court has reinstated a lawsuit against South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel.

Jones County Circuit Judge Billy Joe Landrum had ruled Gail Saul’s lawsuit, on behalf of her father, Raymond Cook, was filed after the one-year statute of limitations.

Cook died Dec. 6, 2005, following gall bladder surgery on Nov. 15, 2005.

Saul sent a notice to the hospital on Dec. 5, 2006, that she intended to file a lawsuit. Under Mississippi law, a plaintiff must provide the governmental entity 90 days written notice before filing a lawsuit.

The suit was filed June 11, 2007.

Landrum ruled that the statute of limitations began to run no later than Nov. 19, 2005, the last date Cook was conscious.

The Supreme Court disagreed and sent the case back to circuit court.