New Health Care Liability Action Opinion: Plaintiff Waived Requirement That Defendant File a Certificate of Good Faith to Support Claim Against a New Defendant; Case Against Newly Added Defendant Dimissed Due to Plaintff's Failure to Then File a Certificate of Good Faith in Support of Claim Against the New Defendant

Yesterday the Tennessee Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Peatross v. Graceland Nursing Home Center, LLC, No. W2015-01412-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 20, 2016).  Here is the syllabus from the slip opinion:

This is a health care liability action.  The plaintiff filed suit against the defendants concerning the inadequate care and treatment received by the decedent. He then amended his complaint to add the defendant hospital as a party after the defendants alleged comparative fault. The defendant hospital moved to dismiss, arguing that the failure to attach a certificate of good faith applicable to it required dismissal. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss, citing this court’s opinion in Sirbaugh v. Vanderbilt University, 469 S.W.3d 46 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014). The plaintiff appeals. We affirm. 

 (Footnote omitted.)

Here is a link to that slip opinion: http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/peatrossopn.pdf

NOTE: This opinion is a good reminder that unless the common-knowledge exception applies in a health care liability action in Tennessee, a certificate of good faith is required to support such a claim---and some party has to file one.

Also, Sirbaugh, supra, is the subject of my Jan. 20, 2015 post on this blog, to wit: http://theduncanlawfirm.blogspot.com/2015/01/new-health-care-liability-opinion.html.