A state appeals court has ruled that a liver cancer patient cannot use the continuous treatment doctrine to toll the statute of limitations in her medical malpractice lawsuit, reasoning that her visits to the defendant hospital's emergency room, which occurred about two and a half years apart, "did not constitute a course of treatment" required under the doctrine.

"Plaintiff never returned to [defendant] Montefiore [Medical Center] between these two emergency room visits in 2012 and 2015 to seek further treatment for her abdominal pain, nor did she provide evidence of an 'ongoing relationship of trust and confidence' with Montefiore," wrote the Appellate Division, First Department, quoting Devadas v. Niksarli in its decision issued Thursday.