An exemption to the MCARE statute of repose that allows patients with sponges and scissors left in their bodies to sue more than seven years after the surgery does not apply to organ recipients who received problematic organs, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

A three-judge panel of the court ruled July 26 in Yanakos v. UPMC that plaintiff Christopher Yanakos could not proceed with his lawsuit against University of Pittsburgh Medical Center over a liver transplant that occurred 13 years before he filed suit.

The ruling affirmed a decision from Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Michael A. Della Vecchia denying Yanakos' challenge to the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act's statute of repose for injuries caused by foreign objects left in a body.