Antoinette Lundy attempted to sue medical staff at Christ Community Health Services in Memphis, TN for medical malpractice after her son was born with brain damage due to a lack of oxygen at birth.
The facility has federally designated status meaning that the care providers were considered federal employees in the event of a malpractice lawsuit.
Ms. Lundy claims she was unaware of this at the time of filing and had been advised by her counsel to wait until she had a full picture of the extent of the child's injuries.
A three-judge panel ruled that she could not have a pause on the two-year statute of limitations on the Federal Tort Claims Act and had therefore missed her window of opportunity to raise a lawsuit. Evidence showed that it should have been clear to the plaintiff and her counsel that CCHS had federally designated status prior to her original medical malpractice suit being filed.