Gall Bladder Surgery Death Suit Filed Too Late, Court Affirms

A New Mexico doctor held on to a judgment dismissing a medical malpractice suit filed against him by the estate of a woman who died after gall bladder surgery when a federal appeals court found the case was filed too late.

The state’s two-year statute of limitations for lawsuits filed against public entities and employees cut off the estate of Rosemary Naegele’s right to sue her physician, Muhammad Khawaja, for wrongful death, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said.

The appeals court rejected the estate’s argument that the New Mexico Tort Claims Act’s time limit conflicted with ...