Fernandi v. Strully

In Fernandi v. Strully, 35 N.J. 434, 173 A.2d 277 (1961), which first applied the discovery rule to a medical malpractice action in which the limitation period was "two years next after the cause of any such action shall have accrued," N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, it was held that the period of limitation of action began to run only after the plaintiff knew or had reason to know that a foreign object had been negligently left in her abdomen following surgery. Notably the adoption of the discovery rule upon "the absence of legislative definition and specification." Fernandi, supra, 35 N.J. at 449, 173 A.2d 277.