Date: 06-11-2002

Case Style: Jermaine Worrell Plummer, &c., et al. v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation

Case Number: 1 No. 71

Judge: Smith

Court: New York Court of Appeals

Plaintiff's Attorney: Grace Goodman, for appellant.

Defendant's Attorney: Matthew Gaier, for respondents.

Description: On this appeal, plaintiffs ask this Court to extend the continuous treatment doctrine from a single physician or related physicians to continuous treatment by an institution. Because the course of the infant's treatment was not truly continuous, we reverse without reaching the question of whether continuous treatment by an institution is a cognizable theory excusing the untimely filing of a notice of claim.

Infant plaintiff was born on May 21, 1985 at North Central Bronx Hospital (North Central), one of the hospitals owned and operated by defendant Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). Medical records indicate plaintiff was essentially “born lifeless,” and that at birth, he suffered from respiratory failure, which allegedly caused brain damage affecting learning and speech development, and Erb's Palsy in his left arm. Plaintiff was intubated and brought to the special care nursery/neonatal intensive care unit where he remained throughout his ten-day hospitalization.

After plaintiff's discharge, he was treated by three different clinics: (a) Montefiore Hospital Medical Center (Montefiore), a facility unrelated to North Central, for his cardiac condition; (b) North Central's Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic for his Erb's Palsy; and (c) North Central's Pediatric Clinic for routine health care. In September 1988, plaintiff's mother told the North Central Pediatric Clinic that she intended to relocate to Miami, Florida. The clinic advised plaintiff's mother to seek medical attention from Miami Children's Hospital and that North Central would forward his medical records to the new setting upon request. The clinic also scheduled an appointment for one month later, which plaintiff did not keep. On December 16, 1988, however, before moving to Miami, plaintiff visited the North Central Pediatric Clinic for routine health care and appeared again on March 10, 1989 following exposure to tuberculosis.

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the Court's opinion.

Outcome: Order reversed, with costs, defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint granted and certified question answered in the negative.

Plaintiff's Experts: Unavailable

Defendant's Experts: Unavailable

Comments: C.L.