Over the past 36 years, New York State has sustained several assaults on its system of civil justice under the misnomer of “tort reform.” While the system as a whole has survived these attacks, they have resulted in the incremental erosion of the rights of tort victims, particularly victims of medical malpractice, often with severe consequences.
The first round was in 1975, and it resulted in the statute of limitations in medical malpractice actions being reduced from three years to 2½ years, as well as a 10-year limitation on the infancy toll in malpractice cases. See CPLR 214-a and 208. This restriction was imposed despite New York’s failure to recognize a “date of discovery” rule for establishing when a cause of action accrues, such that the statute of limitations expires for many people before they even have reason to know they were victims of malpractice.
