HPM&B Secures Complete Dismissal of Medical Malpractice Action in Kings County

HPM&B recently secured a complete dismissal of a medical malpractice action in Supreme Court, Kings County.  This was a wrongful death case involving an allegedly failure to timely diagnose and treat vanishing bile duct syndrome. The lawsuit was initiated by the patient’s wife in her capacity as the proposed administrator of the estate.  The defense filed a motion to dismiss and established that the patient’s wife lacked the capacity to sue on the grounds that she was merely a proposed administrator of the estate. In opposition, plaintiff argued that the matter should be stayed, not dismissed, because the wife had been diligently pursuing formal appointment as the administrator of the estate. In reply, the defense argued that the plaintiff had not actually been diligently pursuing the appointment and showed the court that she had not yet initiated the necessary proceeding in the Surrogate’s Court.  The Court ultimately dismissed the case in its entirety, and plaintiff failed to timely commence a new action pursuant to CPLR § 205(a).