In Beck v. Dennis, 215 Ga. App. 728 (452 S.E.2d 205) (1994), the trial court granted summary judgment to the defendant physician on the basis that the statute of repose in O.C.G.A. 9-3-71 (b) barred a medical malpractice action. Although the decision did not mention O.C.G.A. 9-3-72, the plaintiff's action could be construed on the stated facts as brought pursuant to O.C.G.A. 9-3-72 on the basis that the physician negligently left a foreign object in his body. The decision did not address the application of O.C.G.A. 9-3-72 or the relationship between O.C.G.A. 9-3-72 and the statute of repose in O.C.G.A. 9-3-71 (b). The Court reversed the trial court because we found a factual issue existed as to whether fraud estopped the physician from relying on the statute of repose. Nevertheless, to the extent the decision could be understood to state that the statute of repose in O.C.G.A. 9-3-71 (b) could bar an action brought within the one-year limitation period of O.C.G.A. 9-3-72, Beck is disapproved.