Roberts v. Nicol

── Roberts v. Nicol ── Court: Appellate Court of Illinois Date: April 23, 2026 Category: General NOTICE 2026 IL App (5th) 241177-U NOTICE Decision filed 04/23/26. The This order was filed under text of this decision may be NO. 5-24-1177 Supreme Court Rule 23 and is changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Petition for not precedent except in the Rehearing or the disposition of IN THE limited circumstances allowed the same. under Rule 23(e)(1). APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIFTH DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________ HEATHER L. ROBERTS and CHAT ROBERTS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) Madison County. ) v. ) No. 22-LA-1242 ) DR. RICHARD NICOL, INFINITY-MEDS, LLP, and ) PANDURANGA KINI, M.D., Defendants, ) Honorable ) Christopher P. Threlkeld, (Panduranga Kini, M.D., Defendant-Appellee). ) Judge, presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________ PRESIDING JUSTICE CATES delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Vaughan and Sholar concurred in the judgment. ORDER ¶1 Held: The trial court did not err in entering summary judgment for defendant-appellee where the plaintiffs’ claims against him were barred by the statute of limitations. ¶2 The plaintiffs, Heather L. Roberts and Chat Roberts, appeal from the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Panduranga Kini, M.D. On appeal, the plaintiffs contend that the trial court misapplied the discovery rule and the statute of limitations in finding their cause of action against Dr. Kini was time barred and that there is a question of fact as to when their cause of action against Dr. Kini accrued. We affirm. ¶3 I. BACKGROUND ¶4 The pertinent background facts are taken from the pleadings, deposition excerpts, and exhibits in the record on appeal. On July 21, 2017, at approximately 12:21 p.m., Heather Roberts 1 went to the emergency department at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland, Illinois, with complaints of numbness, weakness, and tingling on the left side of her body. She reported that she had received a chiropractic adjustment at 11:30 that morning and that her symptoms began about 15 minutes later. She denied headaches, visual changes, chest pain, shortness of breath, or difficulties with speech or walking. ¶5 Heather was evaluated by a Dr. Richard Nicol, a physician who worked in the emergency department at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Dr. Nicol conducted a physical examination and then began a stroke workup, including CT scans of the cervical spine and the brain. When Dr. Nicol received the results of Heather’s CT scans, he called Dr. Kini to consult about Heather’s condition. At that time, Dr. Kini was neurologist on staff at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Pursuant to an agreement with St. Elizabeth’s, he also acted as an “on call” neurology consultant for emergency department physicians at four “sister” hospitals, including St. Joseph’s Hospital. Dr. Kini was not on staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and he did n