Day on Torts
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that the three-year statute of repose for medical negligence cases does not violate due process when applied to those who are mentally incompetent. The plaintiff argued that due process required that the statute of repose should be tolled during the period of incompetency. Read Mills v. Wong at http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TSC/Sc1qtr2005.htm.
As a result of this opinion, brain-injured adults and others who are incompetent lose their legal right to sue for medical negligence unless they file suit within one year of the date of discovery but no more than three years after the date of the negligent act or omission causing the injury (unless another exception to the statute of repose applies).
The only remaining exceptions to the statute of repose are for fraudulent concealment, the presence of foreign objects and the claims of minors.