Liguori v. Elmann

Liguori v. Elmann, 2007 WL 1800693 (N.J. June 25, 2007)

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the judgment of an appellate court in a lawsuit filed by the estate of a deceased patient against the physicians who treated her during and after coronary artery bypass surgery, by holding that a cause of action for fraud based on post-surgical misrepresentations by a physician only originates when it gives rise to damages separate from those flowing from a cause of action for malpractice. The court also concluded that the trial court did not err in dismissing claims based on lack of informed consent and battery arising out of a physician inserting a chest tube in the patient because the procedure was performed during an emergency.