What constitutes concealment in medical malpractice cases?

The question of what constitutes concealment was presented in Brown v. Bleiberg, supra, 32 Cal.3d at pages 437-438, 186 Cal.Rptr. 228, 651 P.2d 815. There, plaintiff alleged that she suffered continuing pain following an operation, but remained unaware that the operation had involved the removal of some bones in her feet until she was so informed by a second doctor. The treating physician had described the operation as the removal of a "whole lot of little tumors" (id., at p. 430, 186 Cal.Rptr. 228, 651 P.2d 815) and had told her that the pain would diminish in time.

The court concluded that "[p]laintiff's factual claim that defendant [doctor] misrepresented the nature of the operation he performed on her in order to conceal plaintiff's cause of action creates an issue for the trier of fact as to whether the four-year ... limitations period [was] tolled until plaintiff discovered the negligent cause of her injury." (Brown v. Bleiberg, supra, 32 Cal.3d at p. 437, 186 Cal.Rptr. 228, 651 P.2d 815.)