In an action alleging medical malpractice and product liability resulting from a suicide attempt made after taking an antidepressant drug, the statute of limitations is tolled under Illinois law until the patient reasonably discovers the possible link between her condition and the drug, provided there appeared to be a non-negligent cause that gave the plaintiff no reason to investigate the cause of her condition. An Illinois appellate court reversed a trial court's grant of summary judgment based on the expiration of the statute of limitations.

In July of 1988 Joseph Mercola, a family practitioner, prescribed Prozac, an antidepressant manufactured by Eli Lilly & Company, to Patricia Hochbaum. Mercola had been prescribing antidepressants, as well as the narcotic pain killer Hydrocet, to Hochbaum since December of 1986. According to Hochbaum, the Prozac made her feel "weird" and caused her to have a panic attack. On April 2, 1989, a distraught Hochbaum went to Mercola and asked that he remove her from her medications, hut Mercola declined to do so. Later that clay, Hochbaum slashed her wrist in a suicide attempt. She voluntarily admitted herself to the psychiatric ward. The psychiatrist assigned to her case concluded that the suicide attempt was a result of her depression, her drug dependency, and alcohol she had consumed that day.

Approximately one and a half years later, Hochbaum learned through the news media that there was a possible connection between Prozac and suicidal behavior. On April 8. 1991, Hochbaum brought an action against her doctors and Eli Lilly seeking damages for her suicide attempt. The defendants moved for summary judgment, alleging that Hochbaum's action was barred by the two year statute of limitations. The trial court ultimately granted the motion and Hochbaum appealed.

Hochbaum argued that she had raised an issue of material fact as to when she reasonably should have discovered that Prozac could have contributed to her suicide attempt, and thus summary judgment was improper. The defendants responded that since the suicide attempt was "sudden and traumatic," under Illinois law the discovery rule was inapplicable. The court looked at the relevant case precedents and concluded that the discovery rule can apply to "sudden and traumatic" incidents when the injury appears to have been caused by a non-negligent cause, the actual cause is unknown, and the injured party thus has no reason to inquire into the cause of the injury. The court then held that this exception applied in this case, and that Hochbaum had raised a genuine issue of fact as to whether she believed her suicide attempt was a product of her depression and that she did not learn about the possible effect of Prozac until 18 months later.