Lareau v. Page

CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedNovember 14, 1994
Docket94-1299
StatusPublished

This text of Lareau v. Page (Lareau v. Page) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lareau v. Page, (1st Cir. 1994).

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion



United States Court of Appeals United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit For the First Circuit
____________________

No. 94-1299

GAIL A. LAREAU AND MICHAEL LAREAU,
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PARENTS AND NEXT OF FRIENDS OF
ASHLEY LAREAU AND CHRISTOPHER LAREAU,

Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v.

LARRY K. PAGE, M.D.,
SEQUA CORPORATION,
AND CHROMALLOY PHARMACEUTICAL, INC.

Defendants, Appellees.

____________________

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge] ___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, ___________
Boudin and Stahl, Circuit Judges. ______________

____________________

Joan A. Lukey with whom Charles P. Kindregan and Hale and Dorr ______________ ____________________ ______________
were on brief for appellants.
John D. Cassidy with whom John M. Dellea and Ficksman & Conley ________________ _______________ _________________
were on brief for appellee Larry K. Page, M.D.
Lawrence G. Cetrulo with whom Kevin E. Young, David B. Frederick, ___________________ _______________ __________________
and Peabody & Arnold were on brief for appellees Sequa Corporation and ________________
Chromalloy Pharmaceutical, Inc.
____________________
November 14, 1994
____________________

STAHL, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs-appellants Gail STAHL, Circuit Judge. _____________

Lareau, her husband Michael Lareau, and their children,

Christopher and Ashley Lareau, filed suit against defendants-

appellees Dr. Larry K. Page and parent-subsidiary

corporations Sequa Corporation and Chromalloy Pharmaceutical,

Inc. (collectively, "CPI") for injuries arising from the

injection of the contrast medium Thorotrast into Mrs. Lareau

in 1970. All of the Lareaus appeal various pre-trial rulings

of the district court, and Christopher appeals an adverse

jury verdict in his loss-of-consortium action against Dr.

Page, the only part of this case decided by a jury. We hold

that the statutes of limitations bar all of the Lareaus'

claims except their consumer-protection claims against Dr.

Page and that the Lareaus are not entitled to recover on

their consumer-protection claims against Dr. Page.

Accordingly, we affirm the district court's entry of judgment

for defendants.

I. I. __

Background Background __________

In March 1970, Mrs. Lareau (then Gail Melanson,

aged 17), suffering from severe headaches and flu-like

symptoms, was admitted to Children's Hospital in Boston,

where she came under the care of Dr. Page, a neurosurgeon.

Fearing that Mrs. Lareau had a malignant brain tumor, Dr.

Page performed a craniotomy and determined instead that she

-2- 2

had a brain abscess, which is a life-threatening accumulation

of pus that forms within a capsule of tissue in the brain.

Dr. Page aspirated the abscess, which was approximately the

size of a tennis ball. He then injected a small amount of

Thorotrast, a radioactive contrast medium, into the abscess

cavity to facilitate its post-operative radiologic

observation. Dr. Page did not inform or warn Mrs. Lareau or

her parents of the dangers of Thorotrast or obtain their

consent for using it prior to injecting the substance into

her abscess cavity. Four days later, using Thorotrast-

enhanced x-rays, Dr. Page detected the recurrence of Mrs.

Lareau's abscess. He aspirated the abscess again and,

shortly thereafter, discharged Mrs. Lareau.

Post-surgery, Mrs. Lareau remained healthy for

fourteen years; she grew into adulthood, married Mr. Lareau

and, in 1983, gave birth to their first child, Christopher.

On June 13, 1984, however, Mrs. Lareau was admitted to the

Burbank Hospital in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, suffering from

severe headaches and a grand mal seizure. Her attending

physician, Dr. Richard Cornell, noted that the CT scan taken

on admission revealed "a large calcified mass in the left

brain due to the old lesion." In the discharge summary, Dr.

Cornell also noted "a density overlying the lateral aspect of

the left frontal sinus . . . probably due to retained

contrast [medium] placed at the time of the removal of her

-3- 3

brain abscess, rather than calcification." Mrs. Lareau

herself never saw these reports.

Upon her discharge from Burbank Hospital, Mrs.

Lareau was referred to Dr. Edwin G. Fischer, a neurosurgeon

at Children's Hospital in Boston. Two weeks after she

consulted with Dr. Fischer, Mrs. Lareau received a letter

from him, dated July 6, 1984, in which he warned her that

there was a "theoretical possibility" that "the Thorotrast

that was left following treatment of your brain abscess"

could "induce a tumor in surrounding brain tissue over a

total period of about 20 years." Dr. Fischer's letter

continued:

Since it [the Thorotrast] is located in
an area of brain that it would be safe to
remove it from, I am recommending that it

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Crawford v. Lamantia
34 F.3d 28 (First Circuit, 1994)
Lareau v. Page
840 F. Supp. 920 (D. Massachusetts, 1993)
Bowen v. Eli Lilly & Co.
557 N.E.2d 739 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1990)
McGuinness v. Cotter
591 N.E.2d 659 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1992)
Angelini v. OMD Corp.
575 N.E.2d 41 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1991)
Payton v. Abbott Labs
437 N.E.2d 171 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1982)
Olsen v. BELL TELEPHONE LABORATORIES, W. ELECTRIC CO.
445 N.E.2d 609 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1983)
Anderson v. W.R. Grace & Co.
628 F. Supp. 1219 (D. Massachusetts, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Lareau v. Page, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lareau-v-page-ca1-1994.