Aldana
Aldana v. Stillwagon
Opinion
Opinion
Perren, J.
*4 INTRODUCTION
Mike Stillwagon, a paramedic supervisor, was driving his employer's pickup truck. He was en route to the location of an injured fall victim to supervise the responding emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and, if necessary, provide assistance. At an intersection in Oxnard, he collided with a vehicle being driven by Gerardo Aldana. A year and a half later, Aldana sued him for negligence.
The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) limits the time to file suit against a health care provider for professional negligence to one year from the date the injury is discoverable. ( *5 Code Civ. Proc., § 340.5.) The trial court found that Aldana's suit was subject to MICRA's one-year statute of limitations rather than the two-year limitations period for general negligence (§ 335.1), and therefore was time-barred.
After briefing was complete and before we heard oral argument, our Supreme Court decided Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (2016) 63 Cal.4th 75 , 201 Cal.Rptr.3d 449 , 369 P.3d 229 ( Flores ), which clarified the issue. Flores held that "the special statute of limitations for professional negligence actions against health care providers applies…