Mummert v. Alizadeh, 435 Md. 207

Margaret Varner saw Dr. Alizadeh for years; delayed screening and diagnosis led to Stage IV colorectal cancer and her death in 2008. Beneficiaries (husband and adult children) sued for wrongful death alleging negligent failure to test/diagnose.
Beneficiaries filed wrongful death claims within three years of death; they dismissed the survival count as time‑barred.
Dr. Alizadeh moved to dismiss, arguing the wrongful death claim fails because Mrs. Varner could not (and did not) bring a timely medical‑negligence suit before she died, and alternatively that Md. Code § 5‑109 (medical malpractice limitations) applies to bar the claim.
The Circuit Court granted dismissal; the Court of Appeals granted certiorari to decide (1) whether a wrongful death claim depends on the decedent’s ability to have brought a timely tort claim at death, and (2) whether § 5‑109 applies to wrongful death claims based on medical negligence.
The Court of Appeals reversed: it held wrongful death is an independent cause of action not contingent on the decedent’s pre‑death ability to sue, and § 5‑109 does not apply to wrongful death actions (which are governed by the wrongful death statute’s three‑year limit).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a wrongful death beneficiary’s right to sue is contingent on the decedent having had a viable tort claim at time of death	Beneficiaries: wrongful death is a new, independent cause of action; only the wrongful death statute’s three‑year limit applies	Alizadeh: "wrongful act" language means the decedent must have been able to maintain an action at death; otherwise no predicate wrongful act exists	Held: Not contingent — wrongful death is independent; decedent’s inability to sue before death does not bar beneficiaries’ wrongful death claim
Whether Md. Code § 5‑109 (medical malpractice statute of limitations) applies to wrongful death claims based on medical negligence	Beneficiaries: § 5‑109 governs malpractice suits for personal injury and does not reference death; wrongful death statute governs	Alizadeh: § 5‑109 (tied to Health Care Malpractice Claims Act) should apply to wrongful death where underlying act is medical negligence	Held: § 5‑109 does not apply to wrongful death actions (it addresses personal injury "injury" not wrongful death); wrongful death claims governed by wrongful death statute and its three‑year limit

Lockshin v. Semsker, 412 Md. 257 (Md. 2010) (principles of statutory construction and resolving ambiguities)
Eagan v. Calhoun, 347 Md. 72 (Md. 1997) (wrongful death statute creates recovery for survivors’ own losses; defenses may differ from decedent’s)
Smith v. Gross, 319 Md. 138 (Md. 1990) (prior dicta suggesting limitations at time of death; disavowed here)
Philip Morris v. Christensen, 394 Md. 227 (Md. 2006) (prior dicta on wrongful‑act timing disavowed insofar as inconsistent with this opinion)
Benjamin v. Union Carbide, 162 Md. App. 173 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2005) (intermediate‑appellate interpretation that decedent must have viable claim at death, disavowed here)
Mills v. Int’l Harvester Co., 554 F. Supp. 611 (D. Md. 1982) (district court decision relied on by trial court but distinguished)
Binnix v. Johns‑Manville Prods. Corp., 593 F. Supp. 1180 (D. Md. 1984) (district court decision cited below; distinguished)