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Concealment of Medical Experiments Tolls Statute of Limitations
The plaintiffs sued over medical experiments ("boron neutron capture therapy") performed on their terminally ill relatives in the 1950s and then covered up. The right of access to courts is violated when government officials wrongfully and intentionally conceal information crucial to the ability to obtain redress through the courts, do so for the purpose of frustrating that right, and substantially reduce the likelihood of obtaining relief. Delay ordinarily doesn't meet this standard, but here there were several decades of delay, and the plaintiffs may have lost their claims under relevant limitations periods. Therefore they state a constitutional claim.
Lewis v. Casey is not mentioned here, supporting the theory that Lewis doesn't apply except to the affirmative obligation of government to provide assistance to prisoners. See: Heinrich ex rel. Heinrich v. Sweet, 62 F.Supp.2d 282 (D.Mass. 1999).
Lewis v. Casey is not mentioned here, supporting the theory that Lewis doesn't apply except to the affirmative obligation of government to provide assistance to prisoners. See: Heinrich ex rel. Heinrich v. Sweet, 62 F.Supp.2d 282 (D.Mass. 1999).
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Related legal case
Heinrich ex rel. Heinrich v. Sweet
| Year | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 62 F.Supp.2d 282 (D.Mass. 1999) |
| Level | District Court |
| Injunction Status | N/A |