Harvey v. Department of Corrections

The plaintiff brought this medical malpractice action seeking damages from the defendant for the decedent’s wrongful death. Prior to his death, the decedent sought to recover damages from the Department of Corrections and its inmate health care provider for medical malpractice. The state waived their sovereign immunity and authorized the decedent to bring his case against them. However, the decedent died on September 26, 2015 before having brought his medical malpractice action against the defendant. The plaintiff then commenced this wrongful death action on the decedent’s behalf. In response, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that it was barred by the statute of limitations pursuant to §4-160 (d), which imposed a one year time limit for a plaintiff to bring an action against the state when the state has waived their sovereign immunity. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiff appealed.