New Health Care Liability Action: Trial Court's Dismissal of the Lawsuit as a Nullity Upheld on Appeal Because Suit Was Filed in the Name of the Deceased Plaintiff

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Owen v. Grinspun, No. M2021-00681-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 25, 2022). The syllabus from the opinion reads:

Appellant appeals the trial court’s dismissal of this cause of action on the basis that it was filed by a deceased plaintiff and therefore a nullity that could not be corrected via amendment. We affirm.

Here is a link to the slip opinion:  

https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/dennis.owen_.opn_.pdf.

NOTE: To boil this opinion down to its essence, a personal injury lawsuit (not a wrongful death suit) that is filed on behalf of a deceased plaintiff is a nullity and void ab initio; it is of no consequence and that error cannot be remedied via substitution of a proper representative plaintiff after the statute of limitations has run.