United States v. Kubrick

Decided November 28, 1979. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-1014 · 444 U.S. 111 (1979) · Cited 2,486 times

Holding

A claim accrues within the meaning of 2401(b) when the plaintiff knows both the existence and the cause of his injury, and not at a later time when he also knows that the acts inflicting the injury may constitute medical malpractice.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Urie v. Thompson · 337 U.S. 163 (1949)
• Bell v. Morrison · 26 U.S. 351 (1828)
• United States v. Marion · 404 U.S. 307 (1971)
• Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
• Burnett v. New York Central Railroad · 380 U.S. 424 (1965)
• Chase Securities Corp. v. Donaldson · 325 U.S. 304 (1945)
• Order of Railroad Telegraphers v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 321 U.S. 342 (1944)
• Wood v. Carpenter · 101 U.S. 135 (1879)
• Soriano v. United States · 352 U.S. 270 (1957)
• Guaranty Trust Co. v. United States · 304 U.S. 126 (1938)
• Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co. v. Harriman · 227 U.S. 657 (1913)
• Campbell v. Haverhill · 155 U.S. 610 (1895)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Block v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Board of University & School Lands · 461 U.S. 273 (1983)
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. · 550 U.S. 618 (2007)
• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
• United States v. Kwai Fun Wong · 575 U.S. 402 (2015)
• Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson · 581 U.S. 224 (2017)
• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• Rotella v. Wood · 528 U.S. 549 (2000)
• Smith v. United States · 507 U.S. 197 (1993)
• McNeil v. United States · 508 U.S. 106 (1993)
• Wilson v. Garcia · 471 U.S. 261 (1985)
• Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs · 498 U.S. 89 (1990)
• Bowen v. City of New York · 476 U.S. 467 (1986)
• Mohasco Corp. v. Silver · 447 U.S. 807 (1980)
• Lehman v. Nakshian · 453 U.S. 156 (1981)
• United States v. Dalm · 494 U.S. 596 (1990)
• Ardestani v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 502 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Henderson v. United States · 517 U.S. 654 (1996)
• Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)
• Stogner v. California · 539 U.S. 607 (2003)
• United States Department of Energy v. Ohio · 503 U.S. 607 (1992)
• United States v. IDAHO Ex Rel. DIRECTOR, IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES · 508 U.S. 1 (1993)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).