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21 Rutgers L.J. 699 (1989-1990)
Statute of Limitations - Discovery Rule - When Cause of Injury in Products Liability Action is Arcane, Discovery Rule Bars Running of Statute of Limitations until Plaintiff's Suspicion of Cause Receives Some Reasonable Medical Support

handle is hein.journals/rutlj21 and id is 709 raw text is: COMMENTS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS - DISCOVERY RULE - WHEN CAUSE OF INJURY IN PRODUCTS LIABILITY ACTION IS ARCANE, DISCOVERY RULE BARS RUNNING OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS UNTIL PLAIN- TIFF'S SUSPICION OF CAUSE RECEIVES SOME REASONABLE MEDICAL SUPPORT. Graves v. Church & Dwight Co., Inc., 115 N.J. 256, 558 A.2d 463 (1989). I. INTRODUCTION The discovery rule1 has been applied in New Jersey since 19612 to bar the running of the statute of limitations in personal injury suits until a plaintiff's cause of action accrues.3 It is an equitable rule, developed as a means of mitigating the often harsh and unjust results which flow from a rigid and automatic adherence to a strict rule of law. Since the discovery rule is fact dependent and applied on a case-by-case basis,5 the question of what level of knowledge constitutes discovery has been continually debated'. In Graves v. Church & Dwight Co., Inc.,7 the New Jersey 1. The discovery rule functions to modify the conventional statutory period but only to the extent of postponing the accrual of a cause of action until the plaintiff 'learns, or reasonably should learn, the existence of that state offacts which may equate in law with a cause of action.' Vispisiano v. Ashland Chem. Co., 107 N.J. 416, 426, 527 A.2d 66, 71 (1987) (quoting Burd v. New Jersey Tel. Co., 76 N.J. 284, 291, 386 A.2d 1310, 1314 (1978)) (emphasis in original). 2. Fernandi v. Strully, 35 N.J. 434, 173 A.2d 277 (1961). See infra notes 39-42 and accompanying text. 3. The New Jersey statute of limitations for personal injuries reads: Every action at law for an injury to the person caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of any person within this state shall be commenced within 2 years next after the cause of any such action shall have accrued. N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2A:14-2 (West 1987). 4. Lopez v. Swyer, 62 N.J. 267, 273-74, 300 A.2d 563, 566 (1973). 5. Id. at 274-75, 300 A.2d at 567. While the time of discovery of the requisite knowledge is a question of fact, the determination of whether the discovery rule applies in a given situation is arrived at by a weighing of equitable factors. It is not every belated discovery that will justify an application of the rule lifting the bar of the limitations statute. Id. at 275, 300 A.2d at 567. See also infra note 24. 6. See infra note 133 and accompanying text. 7. 115 N.J. 256, 558 A.2d 463 (1989).

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