legal capstone discussion 7

Kimberly Richardson, a client, had surgery on her stomach to repair a perforation. The surgery successfully repaired the perforation but Kimberly continued to have pain. Kimberly was told it would take a long time for her stomach to heal due to the sensitive area in which the surgery was performed.

Two and a half years later, Kimberly doubles over in such severe pain that she is rushed to the emergency room. Unable to determine the cause of the pain, an x-ray was taken. The x-ray reveals that there is a small surgical sponge at the point of the prior surgery. In order to alleviate the pain, Kimberly has emergency surgery to remove the sponge.

Kimberly seeks to recover damages from the surgeon who performed the surgery to repair the perforation. The statute of limitations is two years for personal injury or malpractice. Would her case have merit? Could you file outside of the statute of limitations? Why or why not?