Estate of Sly v. Linville

In Estate of Sly v. Linville, 75 Wn. App. 431, 878 P.2d 1241 (1994) the court determined a patient's claim was time-barred by the eight-year statute of limitations under RCW 4.16.350 which provides the statute of limitations for injuries resulting from "health care." Linville, 75 Wn. App. at 440. In that case a physician made misrepresentations to a patient concerning treatment the patient received from a previous physician saying the previous physician had given the patient the "best of care." Id. at 433. The patient claimed the misrepresentation caused him to delay filing a suit against his previous physician with the result that his claim was time-barred by the statute of limitations. Id. at 434. The court determined the patient's cause of action against the physician was not barred by the eight-year statute of limitation under RCW 4.16.350 because the misrepresentation was not "health care." Id. at 440. The court also indicated the patient did not have a cause of action under RCW 7.70.010 because the physician's misrepresentations were not health care inasmuch as the breach did not occur while the physician was "'utilizing the skills which he had been taught in examining, diagnosing, treating or caring for'" the patient. Id.