Dickson, C.J.
This appeal challenges a summary judgment in a wrongful death medical malpractice case brought by the deceased patient’s husband as administrator of her estate. The defendant physician sought summary judgment on grounds that the plaintiff’s complaint was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The trial court granted the motion and, finding no reason for delay, entered final judgment against the plaintiff. The Court of Appeals affirmed in a memorandum decision. David v. Kleckner, No. 49A02-1301-MI-13, 989 N.E.2d 843 (Ind. Ct. App. June 14, 2013) (table). We now grant transfer and reverse the trial court.
….
We conclude that neither Brinkman, Overton, nor Herron should be read to undermine the discovery opportunity element expressly recognized in Manley, Van Dusen and Booth. Thus, in determining whether a medical malpractice claim has been commenced within the medical malpractice statute of limitations, the discovery or trigger date is the point when a claimant either knows of the malpractice and resulting injury, or learns of facts that, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should lead to the discovery of the malpractice and the resulting injury. Depending on the individual circumstances of each case, a patient’s learning of the resulting disease or the onset of resulting symptoms may or may not constitute the discovery or trigger date. The issue to be determined is the point at which a particular claimant either knew of the malpractice and resulting injury, or learned of facts that would have led a person of reasonable diligence to have discovered the malpractice and resulting injury. If this date is less than two years after the occurrence of the alleged malpractice, the statute of limitations bars the claim unless it is not reasonably possible for the claimant to present the claim in the remaining time, in which case the claimant must do so within a reasonable time after the discovery or trigger date. Booth, 839 N.E.2d at 1172. If such date is more than two years after the occurrence of the malpractice, the claimant has two years within which to commence the action. Id.
In the present case, construing the facts and reasonable inferences established by the designated evidence in favor of the non-moving party, as we must, we find that the alleged malpractice (failure to perform an endocervical biopsy) occurred on February 27, 2009. On March 13, 2009, Dr. Kleckner’s office assured Lisa that all was well. Over the next five months, Lisa began to experience genital pain, discomfort, and bleeding and saw a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology on September 1, 2009. He detected a mass on Lisa’s cervix, and on September 3, 2009, informed Lisa that the mass was a cancerous tumor. Approximately one week later, Dr. Kleckner assured Lisa that no tumor was present when he had examined her and performed the endometrial biopsy on February 27, 2009. This assurance must be considered in evaluating when Lisa or David knew facts that would have reasonably led them, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, to discover the alleged malpractice. See Herron, 897 N.E.2d at 451 (“Where the plaintiff knows of an illness or injury, but is assured by professionals that it is due to some cause other than malpractice, this fact can extend the period for reasonable discovery.”); see also Halbe v. Weinberg, 717 N.E.2d 876, 882 (Ind. 1999). It was not until mid to late February, 2011, that Lisa’s husband, Larry, became suspicious of why Dr. Kleckner hadn’t found any evidence of cancer or a tumor when he had last seen Lisa. He promptly consulted an attorney, obtained Lisa’s medical records, and learned on March 25, 2011 that Dr. Kleckner had failed to perform the recommended endocervical biopsy. This action was commenced on July 1, 2011.
Because Dr. Kleckner established from the designated evidence that this action was commenced more than two years after the date of the alleged malpractice, the burden shifted to the plaintiff to show “an issue of fact material to a theory that avoids the defense.” Manley, 992 N.E.2d at 674; Herron, 897 N.E.2d at 448; Overton, 896 N.E.2d at 502 (all three cases quoting Boggs, 730 N.E.2d at 695). The plaintiff has carried this burden. While it is clear when Lisa became aware of her cervical cancer, it is a disputed fact when she should have, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, discovered whether Dr. Kleckner’s failure to perform the endocervical biopsy caused or inhibited timely treatment. Moreover, the evidentiary facts, particularly Dr. Kleckner’s assurances in early September, 2009—that likely would have minimized the plain-tiff’s suspicion and inquiry—support a reasonable inference that mid to late February, 2011, when Larry David first became suspicious of the possibility of malpractice, was the point when Lisa or Larry David either knew of the alleged malpractice and resulting injury, or learned of facts that, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have led to the discovery of the mal-practice and the resulting injury. There are no undisputed facts that establish an earlier discovery or trigger date. Depending on the precise date in the period from “mid to late February” when Larry’s suspicions were aroused, such discovery date may have been less than two years after the date of the alleged malpractice, February 27, 2009. In such case, as noted above, Lisa and David were obligated to initiate the malpractice action within a reasonable time. Booth, 839 N.E.2d at 1172.
We find that the holding in Manley applies equally here. In Manley, we found the defendants were not entitled to summary judgment because “there remain[ed] a genuine issue of material fact as to both the trigger date and, if within the two-year limitation period, whether the plaintiffs filed their complaint within a reasonable time.” 992 N.E.2d at 675. The designated materials in the present case show that Larry promptly consulted an attorney after his suspicions arose, obtained medical information release forms, used those forms to obtain Lisa’s medical records, and then returned the medical records to his attorney for evaluation by medical experts. We find that it was not necessarily an unreasonable delay for this action to be commenced on July 1, 2011, and that the plaintiff may be found to have filed within a reasonable time if the trigger date occurred within the statutory window. [Footnote omitted.] The plaintiff has thus established “an issue of fact material to a theory that avoids the defense.” Manley, 992 N.E.2d at 674; Herron, 897 N.E.2d at 448; Overton, 896 N.E.2d at 502 (all three cases quoting Boggs, 730 N.E.2d at 695). The defendant is not entitled to summary judgment on his defense asserting the medical malpractice statute of limitations.
We reverse the judgment of the trial court granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment.
Rucker, David, Massa, and Rush, JJ., concur.