Hollingsworth

Appellant Jesse W. Hollingsworth contends the trial court erred by instructing the jury that appellant’s cause of action for medical malpractice was barred if it was not brought within the time period provided by the one-year statute of limitations set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5. Appellant contends the trial court should instead have held the statute of limitations was tolled while appellant was in prison. We hold, in the published portion of this opinion, that the provisions of former section 352 (now section 352.1), tolling statutes of limitation as to prisoners in custody, are inapplicable to medical malpractice actions which are controlled by the limitations period established by section 340.5. We, therefore, affirm the judgment.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Appellant was imprisoned at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville on August 9, 1990, when he fell through a ceiling while trying to fix a suction fan on an air conditioner. Appellant broke his right ankle. He was treated for the injury by respondent orthopedic surgeon, John Charles Kofoed, M.D., an independent contractor employed to treat certain injuries to prisoners.

The injury…