Layton v. Allen

HERRMANN, Justice:

The appeal in this medical malpractice case presents the question of whether the Statute of Limitations commenced to run when the wrongful act or omission was committed by the practitioner or when the harm first manifested itself to the patient.

This is a case of first impression in this Court.

I

For present purposes, these facts are accepted :

In 1958, the plaintiff 1 underwent an abdominal operation for the correction of hernia. The defendant surgeon, in performing the operation with the assistance of employees of the co-defendant hospital, left a metallic hemostat, several…