This appeal raises the issue of whether the five-year statute of repose for medical malpractice actions embodied at OCGA § 9-3-71 b operates to bar a contribution action brought by one joint tortfeasor against another joint tortfeasor, or whether the action was timely filed under OCGA § 9-3-22, which provides for a 20-year statute of limitation for contribution actions. See Krasaeath v. Parker , 212 Ga. App. 525, 526 441 SE2d 868 1994. We conclude that the facts of this case implicate the purposes underlying enactment of OCGA § 9-3-71 b and that those facts would be better served by application of the five-year statute of repose. Because the evidence shows that the action was brought after expiration of that statute, we reverse the trial court’s order granting summary judgment to The Virginia Insurance Reciprocal, the party who brought the contribution action, and we direct the trial court to enter judgment in favor of the defendant-appellant, Dr. Ann Shear Pilzer. 1. Plaintiffs April Jones and Betty Kinney brought a medical malpractice action against Dr. Pilzer, Scottish Rite Children’s Medical Center, and a nurse employed by the hospital. The case proceeded to trial, and the jury reached a verdict against Pilzer and Scottish Rite, with no apportionment of liability. The amended judgment entered on the jury’s verdict, affirmed by this court in Pilzer v. Jones , 242 Ga. App. 198 529 SE2d 205 2000 physical precedent only, was satisfied by a total payment to plaintiffs in the amount of $6,165,913.37. Pilzer paid a portion of the judgment, and The Virginia Insurance Reciprocal TVIR, the insurer for Scottish Rite and its nurse, paid the remainder. Then, more than ten years after the date on which the plaintiff in the underlying medical malpractice action was injured, TVIR brought this action for contribution against Pilzer, alleging that she had not paid her one-half proportional share as a joint tortfeasor. Both parties moved for summary judgment. Among other things, Pilzer argued that the contribution action was barred by the five-year statute of repose for medical malpractice actions. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of TVIR, ordering that TVIR recover $1,242,489.04 from Pilzer.
On appeal, Pilzer argues that this contribution claim was barred by OCGA § 9-3-71 b. That subsection provides in part that “in no event may an action for medical malpractice be brought more than five years after the date on which the negligent or wrongful act or omission occurred.” Id. TVIR argues, however, that its claim against Pilzer is not one for medical malpractice but instead is simply one for contribution governed by the 20-year statute of limitation provided for by OCGA § 9-3-22.
