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 statute of limitations for an informed‑consent claim accrues when the plaintiff knows she has been injured by another’s fault, not when she learns the device was experimental, thereby barring Baird’s claim against Dr. Newman and remanding for further dismissal of the hospital and manufacturer. The Court also noted, without deciding, that the Medical Device Amendments do not preempt the state‑law claims. Justice O’Hern dissented, arguing that the accrual should be tied to the plaintiff’s discovery of the experimental nature of the device.