Court Opinion

ID: 9761834
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:56:29.415569+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:26.973698
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice, dissenting.
I dissent, and in so doing, I reiterate the conclusion I reached in Pastierik v. Duquesne Light Co., 514 Pa. 323, 526 A.2d 323 (1987) (Larsen, J., dissenting), that the discovery rule is applicable to a wrongful death action brought *407pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5524(2). See also, McGowan v. University of Scranton, 759 F.2d 287 (3d Cir.1985). Because appellee, Barbara Molineux, could not have discovered that her brother was permitted to bleed to death in the hospital emergency room and that his death may have been the result of medical malpractice, until she received his hospital records, I would hold that the cause of action in this case did not accrue until December 23, 1980, and that the statutory period of limitations did not begin to run until that date.
Accordingly, I would affirm the Order of Superior Court and would permit appellee the right to amend her complaint to allege facts supporting her claim of delayed accrual, including the circumstances excusing delayed discovery.