A Statute of Limitations is a statute, or law, that restricts the period of time an individual has to bring legal action from the date of the occurrence. The time periods vary from state to state and the amount of time depends upon the type of claim or cause of action. If an action is not brought within the applicable Statute of Limitations, an individual is forever barred from initiating that particular action and recovering monetary damages unless a legal exception applies, such as the plaintiff being a minor. An attorney’s failure to adhere to the statute can result in a legal malpractice action.

In New York, the statute allows for three (3) years to initiate a personal injury action, whether predicated on negligence or “strict tort liability” or “strict products liability.” A claim of negligence against non-medical professionals, such as legal malpractice, has a three (3) year statute, while medical malpractice cases have a two and a half (2.5) year statute, encompassing all medical professionals, including physicians, dentists, hospitals, etc. A wrongful death action in New York has a two (2) year statute of limitations from the date of death of the decedent to bring such a claim.

In the same types of cases, New Jersey imparts different time restraints within which to commence legal proceedings. There is a two (2) year Statute of Limitations for personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice and for wrongful death actions; however the exception to this two (2) year statute is the Discovery Rule. The Discovery Rule applies to a medical malpractice action and provides that the Statute of Limitations does not begin running until the facts presented to a reasonable person would indicate that that reasonable person, exercising ordinary diligence, was damaged or injured by another. The person would have to have knowledge of the injury and that it was due to the negligence of another person.

Failure to comply with the Statute of Limitations, no matter where the action is venued and what type of action, may ultimately give rise to a legal malpractice action. Although there are many other causes for claims of legal malpractice, missing a Statute of Limitations can easily be avoided by the law firm maintaining a organized system of the dates of loss or dates of onset of injuries. 

Never events are “reasonably preventable” events or occurrences that should never happen in a hospital or healthcare facility.  The National Quality Forum (NQF) defines never events as “serious reportable events” and include surgical events, such as performing the wrong procedure; product or device events, such as contaminated drugs or devices; and criminal events, such as sexual assault on a patient.

The 28 never events, as defined by the NQF are:

• artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg
• unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery
• patient death or serious disability associated with patient disappearance
• patient death or serious disability associated with medication error
• patient death or serious disability associated with electric shock or elective cardioversion
• patient death or serious disability associated with a hemolytic reaction due to administration of blood products
• patient death or serious disability associated with a fall
• surgery performed on the wrong body part
• surgery performed on the wrong patient
• wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient
• intraoperative of immediately post-operative death in an ASA Class I patient
• patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics provided by the healthcare facility
• patient death or serious disability associated with the use or function of a device in patient care, in which the device is used or functions other than as intended
• patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism
• infant discharged to the wrong person
• patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability
• maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy
• patient death or serious disability associated with hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is cared for in a health facility
• death or serious disability associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia in neonates
• stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a healthcare facility
• patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy
• any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other has to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances
• patient death or serious disability associated with a burn
• patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails
• any instance or care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other licensed healthcare provider
• abduction of a patient of any age
• sexual assault on a patient
• death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault

Beginning on October 1, 2008, Medicare will deny payment on such never events that occur in hospitals or healthcare facilities. Hospitals or facilities cannot only be denied payment, but are prohibited from billing the patient and must absorb any and all costs associated with remedying the damage they caused.  Although physicians are not yet affected by this new policy, it is expected that the benefits will result from hospitals working harder to prevent these errors and making greater efforts to protect their patients.  Medicare is currently seeking a uniform payment policy which will apply to physicians as well.