Nykorchuck v. Henriques

Dr. Edgar Henriques (defendant) began treating Diane Nykorchuck (plaintiff) in 1974 for fertility issues related to endometriosis. Henriques treated Nykorchuck for that condition through 1982, when Nykorchuck underwent surgery. In July 1979, Nykorchuck alerted Henriques to a lump in her right breast, which Henriques diagnosed as being due to noncancerous fibrocystic disease. Henriques told Nykorchuck that they would have to keep an eye on the lump. In connection with the 1982 surgery, someone at the hospital (not Henriques) detected lumps in both of Nykorchuck’s breasts. After the surgery, Nykorchuck saw Henriques three times; Henriques examined Nykorchuck’s breasts during one of these visits. In addition, Henriques called in prescription renewals for Nykorchuck in 1984 and June 1985. In December 1985, Nykorchuck noticed that the mass in her right breast had grown. In January 1986, Henriques examined Nykorchuck and immediately referred Nykorchuck to an oncologist, who diagnosed Nykorchuck with breast cancer. In December 1987, Nykorchuck sued Henriques for malpractice. Henriques moved for summary judgment on the ground that the two-and-a-half-year statute of limitations expired because it commenced when Henriques allegedly misdiagnosed the lump in Nykorchuck’s right breast in 1979. Nykorchuck responded that her claim was not time-barred because, under the continuous-treatment doctrine, the statute of limitations did not commence until her course of treatment with Henriques ended. The supreme court denied Henriques’s summary-judgment motion, but the appellate division reversed. Nykorchuck appealed.