"Health care provider" includes any person, partnership, association, corporation or other facility or institution who causes to be rendered or who renders health care or professional services as a hospital, physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, nurse-midwife, dentist, dental hygienist, optometrist, clinical laboratory technologist, pharmacist, physical therapist, podiatric physician, psychologist, chiropractic physician, naturopathic physician, osteopathic physician, osteopathic physician and surgeon, audiologist, speech-language pathologist, clinical social worker, certified social worker, social service worker, marriage and family counselor, practitioner of obstetrics, or others rendering similar care and services relating to or arising out of the health needs of persons or groups of persons, and officers, employees, or agents of any of the above acting in the course and scope of their employment.
"Malpractice action against a health care provider" means any action against a health care provider, whether in contract, tort, breach of warranty, wrongful death or otherwise, based upon alleged personal injuries relating to or arising out of health care rendered or which should have been rendered by the health care provider.
No malpractice action against a health care provider may be brought unless it is commenced within two years after the plaintiff or patient discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered the injury, whichever first occurs, but not to exceed four years after the date of the alleged act, omission, neglect or occurrence, except that:
A. In an action where the allegation against the health care provider is that a foreign object has been wrongfully left within a patient's body, the claim shall be barred unless commenced within one year after the plaintiff or patient discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the existence of the foreign object wrongfully left in the patient's body, whichever first occurs; and
B. In an action where it is alleged that a patient has been prevented from discovering misconduct on the part of a health care provider because that health care provider has affirmatively acted to fraudulently conceal the alleged misconduct, the claim shall be barred unless commenced within one year after the plaintiff or patient discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence, should have discovered the fraudulent concealment, whichever first occurs.
Gustavson v. United States, 655 F.2d 1034 (10th Cir. 1981) , applying federal law. (A claim for misdiagnosis by military physicians was barred by the statute of limitations. The fact that the patient lacks knowledge of the permanence, extent, and ramifications of his injury does not toll the statute. The statute began to run when the plaintiff learned that his kidneys had been injured by the defendants' failure to correct a long-term ureter disorder.)
Floyd v. Western Surgical Assocs., Inc., 773 P.2d 401 (Utah Ct. App. 1989). (The plaintiff brought an action against the defendant surgeon three years after the surgeon admitted that he had performed extensive additional surgery which the plaintiff had not consented to or been advised of, and that the additional surgery was the cause of the plaintiff's chronic diarrhea, weight loss, and depression. The trial court properly granted summary judgment for the surgeon because the action was barred by the statute of limitations. The plaintiff's cause of action accrued when the plaintiff was advised that the additional surgery caused the injuries.)