Harkin v. Culleton

OPINION OF THE COURT

Wallach, J.

In Simcuski v Saeli (44 NY2d 442), the Court of Appeals held that a physician’s concealment of his own malpractice can be the basis of not only an estoppel against his assertion of the Statute of Limitations as a bar to an untimely cause of action for malpractice, but also a separate cause of action for fraud if the concealment is achieved through affirmative misrepresentations as opposed to mere nondisclosure. In both instances, however, more is involved than just the common-law elements of fraud. To be entitled to an estoppel, the plaintiff must show, in…