Eleanor Baird, Plaintiff-Respondent, and John Baird, Her Husband, Plaintiff v. American Medical Optics, Frederic…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the two‑year statute of limitations for informed‑consent claims runs when the plaintiff knows of her injury and that it was caused by another’s fault, not when she learns the device was experimental, thereby barring Baird's claim against Dr. Newman and remanding for further limitation defenses against the hospital and manufacturer. The Court also noted, without deciding, that the Medical Device Amendments likely do not preempt Baird's state‑law claims against AMO. Justice O'Hern dissented, arguing the accrual should be tied to knowledge of the investigational nature of the device.