Limitations Period for HRT Claim Begins at Diagnosis, Judge Says

PHILADELPHIA - An Arkansas woman who failed to diligently investigate the cause of her breast cancer cannot sue the manufacturers of the hormone replacement drug four years after her diagnosis for allegedly causing the disease, a state trial court judge ruled. Coleman v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., et al., No. June Term 2004 No. 3179 (Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Cty.).

Judge Allan L. Tereshko of the Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court ruled Sept. 24 that it was Elizabeth Coleman's injury, rather than the discovery of its alleged cause, that began the statute of limitations on Coleman's personal injury claim.

Because …