Huggard v. Wake County Hospital System, Inc.

JOHNSON, Judge.

This case requires that we consider G.S. § 1-166 (1983), the statute which allows a defendant to be sued in a fictitious name. The issue is whether the filing of a “John Doe” complaint tolls the statute of limitations.

The sequence of events which form the basis for this appeal are as follows. Eight year old Bobby Brown was admitted to defendant Wake County Hospital (“Wake”) on 22 December 1985 where he was treated by the five named individual defendants, all doctors. Bobby was discharged on 25 December with a diagnosis of resolving aseptic meningitis. He was readmitted on 27…