Opinion ID: 2615017
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 24

Heading: whether the mother's claim was time barred was a question of fact for the jury

Text: According to the doctors, the trial court should have held that the mother's claim was time barred. [132] Because the so-called discovery rule approach to limitations applies in medical malpractice, [133] the time from which the statute begins to run depends upon the plaintiff's knowledge of her injury. The critical determination is whether she knew or should have known she was injured. The limitations issue must be submitted to the jury when the facts about the injury's discovery are disputed. [134] The mother admitted she had been told both (1) that she needed Rho-GAM after each pregnancy and (2) the dangers of not receiving it. The doctors introduced evidence that the mother learned in April 1982 that she was not given Rho-GAM that January. [135] The mother urged she did not understand that this meant she might have become sensitized by the doctors' failure to give her the drug. According to the mother, the information she had been given in 1978 and 1980 was in the back of her mind, but she did not remember it at the time in question. Although a March 7, 1983 blood test shows that the mother had become sensitized, she denies knowledge of the test's positive results. Evidence was admitted from which the jury could infer that the mother knew she had been sensitized  i.e., Dr. Barton's notes reflect she told him in March 1983 that she had antibodies against Rh. [136] If the mother knew or should have known before July 12, 1983 that she was sensitized by the doctors' substandard conduct, the action, filed July 12, 1985, was time barred. Conflicting evidence about what the mother knew or should have known about her own condition made the limitations issue one for the jury to decide; the trial court did not err by submitting the issue to the triers.