A Maryland court has refused to throw out a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a couple who were told by a local hospital that the husband’s multiple stent surgeries were necessary and then, who received a letter from the Department of Justice – which was investigating the doctor for criminal healthcare fraud – telling the man that the surgeries were not necessary.

Defendants Peninsula Regional Medical Center and Dr. John McLean had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Julian Peacock had waited too long to bring his lawsuit. Maryland’s federal trial court disagreed.

“Reading the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the court finds that dismissal of the Peacocks’ claims on limitations grounds would be premature at this stage of the litigation. Maryland courts have repeatedly cautioned that whether a defendant fraudulently concealed a cause of action and whether a plaintiff exercised ordinary diligence in investigating a claim are usually questions for the jury,” the United States District Court for the District of Maryland said in Julian Peacock et al. v. Peninsula Regional Medical Center, et al.