ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) - The relatives of a woman who died of an opioid overdose can’t take advantage of a Georgia law that extends the statute of limitations for torts in connection with a crime, an appeals court ruled, dismissing a lawsuit against a doctor who was later convicted of illegal prescribing.
Laith Allen, the widower of Michelle Allen, and their daughter Brittany sued Dr. Thomas Sachy after Michelle died of an oxycodone overdose in August 2016. Sachy had prescribed the drugs to Michelle for back pain from 2008 until her death. The doctor was later indicted and pled guilty to illegal prescribing in 2021.
The Allens sued in August 2021 and Sachy moved to dismiss the case as filed after the two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice and wrongful death claims. A trial judge refused to dismiss the case, however, citing a state law tolling the statute of limitations “with respect to any cause of action in tort that may be brought by the victim of an alleged crime.”
The judge certified the question for immediate appeal, however. And soon after, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in Hicks v. Universal Health Services that wrongful-death claims are not subject to the tolling provision. The appeals court cited that ruling in a Dec. 6 decision reversing the trial judge’s refusal to dismiss because of the statute of limitations.
“Similar to Hicks, the Plaintiffs in this case were not patients of Sachy and were not prescribed an medication, nor were they killed by the alleged over-prescription,” the court concluded.