Anderson v. Montefiore Med. Ctr. (Summary)

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Anderson v. Montefiore Med. Ctr., N.Y. Slip Op. 04685 (N.Y. App. Div. June 5, 2007)

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, dismissed a medical malpractice and wrongful death suit against two physicians because the plaintiff failed to satisfy the requirements of the statute of limitations.

Following the death of the patient, her estate commenced a personal injury and wrongful death suit against the hospital and dialysis center where she had been treated for renal failure. More than two years later, the patient’s estate commenced a similar action against two physicians who had treated the patient at the hospital.

Because the statute of limitations had run on the claims against the physicians, the patient’s estate had the burden of proving that the claims against the physicians should be joined to relate back to the original claims against the hospital. In order for a claim to relate back to a prior claim, three elements must be satisfied: (1) both claims must arise out of the same conduct; (2) the new party must be "united in interest" with the original defendant; and (3) the new party knew or should have known that, absent a mistake by the plaintiff as to the identity of the proper parties, the action would have been brought against the new party as well.

The court held that the second element was not satisfied because, as non-employee physicians, the defendants could not be shown to be "united in interest" with the hospital. In so holding, the court noted that while hospitals may sometimes be held vicariously liable for the negligence of non-employee physicians, the converse is not true, i.e., physicians cannot be held vicariously liable for the negligence of a hospital.