LAST-TREATMENT RULE

last-treatment rule. The doctrine that, for an ongoing physician–patient relationship, the statute of limitations on a medical-malpractice claim begins to run when the treatment stops or the relationship ends. [Cases: Limitation of Actions 55(3). C.J.S. Limitations of Actions §§ 159, 166, 171–175; Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Health-Care Providers § 108.]