Court Opinion

ID: 9700831
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:50:29.663745+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:14.905285
License: Public Domain

Mallett, J.
(dissenting). Although I concur with the majority’s analysis, I dissent from the majority’s holding that Judith Harrington’s suit is barred by the statute of limitations. The majority holds that in a pharmaceutical products liability action, the statute of limitations commences when the plaintiff discovers or, through the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have discovered the injury and the causal connection betwéen plaintiff’s injury and defendant’s breach. Applying this standard, the majority concludes that Jean Moll knew or should have known of her possible cause of action no later than August 1976. Since evidence of her condition and the possible cause thereof was overwhelming, I agree that Jean Moll’s suit is barred by the statute of limitations.
However, I dissent from the majority’s conclusion that Judith Harrington knew or should have known of her injury on December 27, 1983. On December 27, 1983, Dr. Stern informed her that a possible cause of her inability to conceive was her bicornuate uterus, that may have been caused by exposure to des. In early 1984, only a few weeks after Dr. Stern’s diagnosis, Judith Harrington became pregnant. As a result, she achieved that which her injury was to ultimately prevent. Her injury did not manifest itself until April 1984, when she miscarried. Therefore, because the conse*36quences of her injury did not manifest itself until April 1984, the statute of limitations did not preclude her suit until April 1987.
The majority’s unforgiving application of the discovery rule ignores the objective reality of Judith Harrington’s circumstances. The record does not contain Dr. Stern’s exact statements to her. Without this imperative information, it is impossible to confidently determine what she knew or should have known. If Dr. Stern unequivocally informed her that because of her exposure to des she could never carry a child to term, I could concur with the majority’s conclusion that the statute of limitations was triggered on December 27, 1983. However, without the record indicating otherwise, I assume that Dr. Stern’s message was typically ambiguous and qualified. Consequently, her suit is not barred by the statute of limitations.