Bradway v. American National Red Cross
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
992 F.2d 298 (1993)
Bradway (plaintiff) received a blood transfusion supplied by the Red Cross (defendant) during 1983 surgery, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, and sued in 1989 alleging the Red Cross negligently screened and tested the blood. Georgia law imposed a five-year ultimate repose period for medical-malpractice claims; Bradway argued her claim was ordinary negligence rather than malpractice, but the Georgia Supreme Court, answering a certified question, held that collecting and supplying blood is a medical service involving medical judgment, making the claim subject to the malpractice repose period. The district court dismissed her suit as time-barred, and Bradway appealed.
Whether a statute of repose may bar a claim even though the plaintiff's tortiously inflicted injury had not yet occurred or been discovered when the repose period expired.