Case Title: Emerich v. Einstein Medical Center (Concurring Opinion)

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 1998-11-25T00:00:00Z

Document:
[J-253-96] IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA EASTERN DISTRICT RONALD B. EMERICH, Administrator of the Estate of Teresa M. Hausler, Appellant v. PHILADELPHIA CENTER FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INC. AND ALBERT EINSTEIN MEDICAL CENTER, Appellees and RONALD B. EMERICH, Administrator of the Estate of Teresa M. Hausler, Appellant v. PHILADELPHIA CENTER FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INC., ALBERT EINSTEIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION, ALBERT EINSTEIN MEDICAL CENTER, HARVEY FRIEDRICH, ACSW, ANTHONY J. SCUDERI, M. DIV., CAC AND HACAN ULUS, ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF AHMET ULUS, M.D., Appellees : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Nos. 52, 53, and 54 Eastern District Appeal Docket 1996 Appeal from the orders of the Superior Court, dated January 19, 1996, at Nos. 884PHL95, 885 PHL95, and 886PHL95, affirming the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Civil Division, dated December 8, 1994, at Nos. 9305-3216 and 9306-3480 ARGUED: December 11, 1996 CONCURRING OPINION MR. CHIEF JUSTICE FLAHERTY DECIDED: November 25, 1998 [J-253-96]-2 Mr. Justice Cappy, on behalf of the court, has authored an excellent opinion, and I join it. I write to express my concern that this is yet another extension of liability in an already too litigious society. Here, in my view, the extension is justified by the circumstances presented, but I would go no further. Yes, one can reason in so many instances that an extension of liability is merely a small step flowing naturally and logically from the existing case law. Yet each seemingly small step, over time, leads to an ever proliferating number of small steps that add up to huge leaps in terms of extensions of liability. At some point it must stop and I would draw the line in this area of the law with what is expressed by the court in this case -- no further.