Kerr v. RICHLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Justice KITTREDGE:

This medical malpractice case turns on whether the six-year statute of repose in section 15-3-545(A) of the South Carolina Code (2005) applies to causes of action arising under the Tort Claims Act. We hold that it does and affirm.

I

In 1996, Marta Kerr’s excised mole was allegedly misdiagnosed as benign by a pathologist at Richland Memorial Hospital (Hospital). In 2001, Kerr learned the 1996 specimen, upon reexamination, contained evidence of melanoma. This misdiagnosis allegedly contributed to Kerr’s death in 2002 due to complications of melanoma cancer. Kerr’s estate brought…