The court may grant no more than one additional period, not to exceed 60 days, to file the affidavit pursuant to this section, upon a finding of good cause. The person shall have no financial interest in the outcome of the case under review, but this prohibition shall not exclude the person from being an expert witness in the case. While the hands on the affidavit of merit clock were moving toward midnight, discovery proceeded. They were certified by plaintiff Doris Kritzberg. The answers to Questions 7 and 9 set forth names of treating physicians expected to testify and stated that a Dr. Barry Gustin was expected to testify regarding injuries resulting from a deviation from the standard of care.
Plaintiffs appeal from that order.
Plaintiffs received a stipulation extending time to answer interrogatories, but they did not receive such an extension for the affidavit of merit. 312 N.J. Super. For purposes of this opinion, we will assume without deciding that the information contained in the answers to the interrogatories was sufficiently detailed to comply with the statute if it had been in the form of an affidavit of merit. The interrogatories are deficient, however, not for lack of information, but for a lack of a proper affiant. The certified interrogatories do not demonstrate for purposes of the statute that the claim has merit, and they cannot be used to satisfy the affidavit of merit requirement, no matter how specifically the allegations and potential witnesses are described therein.