Statute of Limitations
New York has a 3-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims (CPLR § 214). The discovery rule applies for cases involving exposure to toxic substances and has been extended by New York courts to latent device defect injuries. New York also applies CPLR § 214-c for cases involving discovery of latent injuries. PowerPort cases from New York are typically filed in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) or Eastern District and transferred to the Arizona MDL.
3 years from discovery of injury (CPLR § 214 with discovery rule)
Where to File in New York
MDL 3081 (In re: Bard PowerPort) is centralized before Chief Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona. New York cases from the Southern District (Manhattan/White Plains), Eastern District (Brooklyn/Long Island), Northern District (Albany/Syracuse), and Western District (Buffalo/Rochester) are transferred to D. Ariz. for coordinated pretrial proceedings. New York’s major academic medical centers generate a large volume of MDL-eligible PowerPort cases.
New York applies a 3-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, including product liability, under CPLR § 214(5). The limitations period begins on the date of injury, not discovery, unless a foreign object theory applies. However, where a PowerPort catheter fragment migrates asymptomatically and is discovered later, the “continuing treatment” doctrine and foreign object exception under CPLR § 214-a may extend the limitations period. Consultation with counsel promptly after diagnosis of catheter fracture is strongly advised.
New York hosts Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Manhattan), one of the world’s highest-volume cancer treatment centers, along with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Buffalo), NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine’s oncology program. These institutions collectively administer chemotherapy to tens of thousands of patients annually, representing a substantial population of PowerPort and PowerPort II recipients in the MDL.
Primary federal venues for New York PowerPort plaintiffs are the S.D.N.Y. (Manhattan) and E.D.N.Y. (Brooklyn), both subject to transfer to MDL 3081. BD (Becton, Dickinson) maintains East Coast corporate and sales operations, and its Bard Medical subsidiary has longstanding supply relationships with New York’s hospital systems. BD’s registered New York business presence supports both general and specific personal jurisdiction in New York state court and federal venue before MDL transfer.
Exposure in New York
Source: National Cancer Institute, 2024
Source: New York CPLR § 214
Source: Reported settlement data