The following actions must be commenced within two years after the claim for relief has accrued:
An action for the recovery of damages resulting from malpractice; provided, however, that the limitation of an action against a physician or licensed hospital will not be extended beyond six years of the act or omission of alleged malpractice by a nondiscovery thereof unless discovery was prevented by the fraudulent conduct of the physician or licensed hospital. This limitation is subject to the provisions of 28-01-25.
Fojut v. Stafl, 569 N.W.2d 737, 741 (Wis. Ct. App. 1997). (In action for wrongful pregnancy based on failure of tubal ligation and ensuing pregnancy, the statute of limitations on action for wrongful pregnancy began to run on date the plaintiff became pregnant, rather than on the date she discovered her pregnancy. Although the failed procedure was the negligent act, the plaintiff did not suffer any injury until she became pregnant.)
Froysland v. Altenburg, 439 N.W.2d 797 (N.D. 1989). (The plaintiff brought a medical malpractice action against an anesthesiologist and a clinic for his right arm nerve damage that resulted from the improper positioning and padding of the plaintiff's arm during surgery. The trial court properly dismissed the claim based on the expiration of the statute of limitations. The plaintiff had reason to know the injury was related to the surgery at the time that he requested financial aid from the hospital for his injury. Therefore, his lack of knowledge regarding the identity of all those involved in the surgery did not toll the statute of limitations. The court also rejected the contention that the plaintiff's claim was saved by the continuous treatment rule, which had not previously been applied in medical malpractice actions in North Dakota.)
Anderson v. Shook, 333 N.W.2d 708 (N.D. 1983). (The statute begins to run when the patient discovers, or should discover, that she has been injured, that the treatment received was the cause of the injury, and that it was reasonably probable that the treatment was negligent. "Discover" refers to the patient's learning of malpractice --breach of duty, injury and causation.)
When, by fraud or fraudulent concealment, a party against whom a claim for relief exists prevents the person in whose favor such claim for relief exists from obtaining knowledge thereof, the latter may commence an action within one year from the time the claim for relief is discovered by him or might have been discovered by him in the exercise of diligence. Such fraud or fraudulent concealment must be established to the satisfaction of the court or jury, as the case may be, by a fair preponderance of the evidence.