How the Unpredictable Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 Infection Pose a Challenge That Tort Law Cannot Meet
Statutes of limitation present a significant hurdle for plaintiffs experiencing harms from COVID-19 infection.
Statute of Limitations
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Read more: How the Unpredictable Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 Infection Pose a Challenge That Tort Law Cannot Meet -
Read more: Trap for the Unwary Works Again: Federal Healthcare and the Limitations Provision of the Federal Tort Claims Act Trap for the Unwary Works Again: Federal Healthcare and the Limitations Provision of the Federal Tort Claims Act
By Alex Stein The same story involving a federally qualified health center (FQHC) repeats itself again, again, and now again: see Phillips v. Generations Family Health Center, — Fed.Appx. —- (2016), 2016 WL 5340278 (2d Cir. 2016). A patient from Connecticut receives medical treatment from a physician who works at a Connecticut-based facility known as Generations…
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Read more: The Ill-Designed “Continuous Treatment” Rule for the Health Law of Massachusetts The Ill-Designed “Continuous Treatment” Rule for the Health Law of Massachusetts
By Alex Stein Under Massachusetts law, suits alleging medical malpractice in a treatment of a minor patient must be filed “within three years from the date the cause of action accrues.” G.L.c. 231, § 60D. In a recent case, Parr v. Rosenthal, 57 N.E.3d 947 (Mass. 2016), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts decided that a…
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Read more: Undiagnosed Cancer under Alabama’s Statute of Repose Undiagnosed Cancer under Alabama’s Statute of Repose
By Alex Stein Alabama Code Section 6–5–482(a) that extends to “all actions against physicians, surgeons, dentists, medical institutions, or other health care providers for liability, error, mistake, or failure to cure, whether based on contract or tort” prescribes, (inter alia) that – “in no event may the action be commenced more than four years after such…
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Read more: Medical Malpractice vs. General Negligence under California Law Medical Malpractice vs. General Negligence under California Law
By Alex Stein In its recent decision, Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hosp., 369 P.3d 229 (Ca. 2016), the California Supreme Court has sharpened the critical distinction between “medical malpractice” and general negligence. Under California statute, a plaintiff’s ability to file a medical malpractice suit expires in one year after the accrual of the cause of action. The statute tolls…
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Read more: Fraudulent Concealment by Nonfeasance as an Exception to the Statute of Repose Fraudulent Concealment by Nonfeasance as an Exception to the Statute of Repose
By Alex Stein As a general rule, malpractice suits against physicians and hospitals must be filed within the repose period that starts running on the day of the alleged malpractice. Expiration of that period kills the plaintiff’s suit regardless of whether she was able to file it on time. Unlike statutes of limitations, this absolute time-bar does not…
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Read more: Malpractice, Apologies and the Statute of Limitations in Federally Qualified Health Centers Malpractice, Apologies and the Statute of Limitations in Federally Qualified Health Centers
By Alex Stein Two months ago, the Seventh Circuit has delivered another important decision with regard to medical malpractice actions filed against federally qualified health centers. Blanche v. United States, 811 F.3d 953 (7th Cir. 2016). See also Arteaga v. United States, 711 F.3d 828 (7th Cir. 2013), and Sanchez v. United States, 740 F.3d 47…
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Read more: “Medical Malpractice” vs. General Negligence: The Case of Falling Accidents “Medical Malpractice” vs. General Negligence: The Case of Falling Accidents
By Alex Stein As I wrote previously – see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here – whether a tort action sounds in “medical malpractice” as opposed to general negligence, or vice versa, can be crucial. Suits sounding in “medical malpractice” must satisfy special requirements that include shortened limitations periods, statutes of repose,…
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Read more: Do Medical-Malpractice Time Bars Apply to Hospitals’ Indemnification Suits Against Doctors? Do Medical-Malpractice Time Bars Apply to Hospitals’ Indemnification Suits Against Doctors?
By Alex Stein The South Carolina Supreme Court has recently decided that a hospital’s indemnification suit against doctors whose malpractice made it pay compensation to the aggrieved patient is subject to the same time bars as patients’ actions against defaulting physicians. Columbia/CSA-HS Greater Columbia Healthcare System, LP v…., — S.E.2d —- (2015), 2015 WL 249536 (S.C….
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Read more: Medical Malpractice and the “Continuous Act” Exceptions to the Statute of Repose Medical Malpractice and the “Continuous Act” Exceptions to the Statute of Repose
By Alex Stein Cefaratti v. Aranow, — A.3d —- (Conn.App. 2014) is a textbook decision on the “continuous act” exceptions to the statute of repose. This decision of the Connecticut Appeals Court draws an important – but oft-missed – distinction between “continuous wrong” and “continuous treatment.” Back in 2003, the plaintiff underwent open gastric bypass surgery…