Snow

Terry Snow (plaintiff) appeals from an order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant corporation. The order was based on plaintiff’s failure to bring an action within the one-year period prescribed as the statute of limitations for personal injury actions. In 1974 plaintiff had suffered from an unwanted pregnancy and resulting therapeutic abortion after having an intrauterine device known as the Daikon Shield inserted for contraception. In 1982 she filed a complaint for personal injuries, alleging, inter alia, that A. H. Robins Company (Robins) fraudulently misrepresented pregnancy rates occurring with the Daikon Shield in situ and wrongfully concealed actual higher pregnancy rates. She did not learn of the possibility of fraud until observing a “60 Minutes” television broadcast in April 1981.

An order granting a motion for summary judgment is a nonappealable order, as it is not the final judgment. (Code Civ. Proc., § 904.1 ; 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 59, pp. 4074-4075.) However, as the instant order appears to be a final disposition in fact granting judgment, and in the interests of judicial economy, we shall treat the order as a judgment.…