Friends,

While on the surface Statutes of Limitations may seem as an effective
tool to help ensure Justice and to enable our Courts to function in a
timely and efficient manner, a closer examination reveals that these
effects may not be the reason for the Statutes after all. While there
is some variance amongst the several States, a 2 Year Statute of
Limitations is pretty much the norm nationwide.

As is especially the case with patients whose cases are part of a
cancer cluster, it very often is far longer than two years (if ever)
after the patient's death before it is learned that many other local
people had been similarly diagnosed. As was the case with the Fallon,
Nevada childhood leukemia cluster, it took the Nevada State Health
Division more than 2 years to even agree to look at Fallon, then 2
more years before an admisssion was finally squeezed from them that
the glut of peds leukemia cases there was probably not due to "random
chance". Were it not for the Parents of Fallon's childhood leukemia
patients literally bumping into one another at Oakland (CA) Children's
Hospital and elsewhere as our Young Warriors underwent treatments, the
Fallon childhood leukemia cluster would still not be known to exist.

It seems to me that the underlying intent of a 2 year Statute of
Limitations is to force a Plaintiff to rush to Court to file a claim
of Wrongful Death, Negligent Homicide, Assault (by toxicants), etc.
Cause of Action. By forcing a potential Plaintiff to file such a
lawsuit prematurely exponentially increases the likelihood that such a
lawsuit will be dismissed as frivolous and unsubstantiated, or
otherwise without merit. A Plaintiff may only bring suit once and if
that suit fails then that Plaintiff may never bring suit over the same
Assault and resulting Wrongful Death again.

With cancer cluster investigations in particular, a suspicious mind
might ask if there be "a method to this madness"?

Floyd


"Daddy, they're just little kids. They didn't do anything wrong! Why
won't those bastards (CDC, ATSDR, Nevada State Health Division) help us?"

Stephanie Suzanne Sands, JUNE2001, upon learning of the death of Adam
Jernee