An action to recover damages for injuries to the person arising from any medical, surgical or dental treatment, omission or operation shall be commenced within two years from the date when the injury is first discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered. However, notwithstanding the provisions of O.R.S. 12.160, every such action shall be commenced within five years from the date of the treatment, omission or operation upon which the action is based or, if there has been no action commenced within five years because of fraud, deceit or misleading representation, then within two years from the date such fraud, deceit or misleading representation is discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered.
Duncan v. Augter, 62 Or. App. 250, 661 P.2d 83 (1983). (The statute begins to run when the plaintiff has knowledge, actual or implied, of facts which if proved, will at least raise an issue of fact on each element of the claim. The facts need not be such as to convince every reasonable factfinder that the plaintiff should win his case.)
Repp v. Hahn, 45 Or. App. 671, 609 P.2d 398 (1980). (An action against a physician who misdiagnosed a cancerous mole is not barred by the statute of limitations where it was brought within three years of the time when the mole began to grow. The court distinguished between the wrongful act and damage that results from such act. The time of the erroneous diagnosis of a scalp condition which subsequently eventuates into cancer does not start the statute, since the patient suffers no actionable harm at that time.)