New Health Care Liability Action Opinion: Dismissal of Claim Against Provider Upheld on Appeal Due to Improper Service of Presuit Notice of the Claim to the Provider

The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently released its opinion in Webb v. Trevecca Center for Rehabilitation and Healing, LLC, No. No. M2019-01300-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 10, 2020).  They syllabus from the slip opinion reads:

This appeal concerns the dismissal of a health care liability action against a long-term care facility. The trial court dismissed the complaint without prejudice because the plaintiff did not provide the long-term care facility with pre-suit notice of her claim as required by statute. The plaintiff argues that the notice she mailed to the facility’s administrator at the facility’s business address satisfied the statutory requirement. Because her letter was not directed to the facility, we affirm the dismissal of her complaint. 

Here is a link to the slip opinion:

https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/webb.judy_.opn_.pdf.

NOTE: This opinion emphasizes the importance of proper service of presuit notice of a potential health care liability action claim.  It is very difficult to do that a lot of the time due to one not being able to determine what entity is the correct one to send notice to before suit is filed.  However, in this instance, it appears that the procedure set out under Tenn. Code Ann. sec. 29-26-121(a)(3)(B)(ii), which governs notice that must be sent to "a health care provider that is a corporation or other business entity," was not followed.