Kern v. St. Joseph's Hospital
New Mexico Supreme Court
697 P.2d 135 (1985)
Dale Kern received radiation therapy from Dr. Simmons (defendant) at St. Joseph's Hospital (defendant) for bladder cancer; though told he would receive 30 treatments, only 25 were administered, and Simmons gave no explanation when Dale and his wife Danny (plaintiff) asked why. Dale soon died, and years later, after reading a newspaper article alleging St. Joseph's had administered excessive radiation to patients, Danny began to suspect Dale was affected and hired an attorney to investigate. Danny sued as Dale's estate representative, alleging negligent administration and calculation of the radiation; Simmons and X-Ray moved for summary judgment based on the three-year malpractice statute of limitations, and the trial court agreed and dismissed. The court of appeals affirmed, and the New Mexico Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether, to toll the applicable statute of limitations for a medical malpractice action, a plaintiff must show the physician had knowledge of wrongful conduct and failed to disclose or concealed it, and that the plaintiff neither knew nor could have reasonably known a cause of action existed within the statutory period.