Court Opinion

ID: 9958701
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-09 20:09:27.960737+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:18:38.436211
License: Public Domain

Campuzano v Helping U Homecare, Inc.
               2024 NY Slip Op 31152(U)
                      April 4, 2024
           Supreme Court, New York County
        Docket Number: Index No. 451348/2023
                  Judge: John J. Kelley
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip
 Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York
 State and local government sources, including the New
  York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.
 This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official
                       publication.
                                                                                                                     INDEX NO. 451348/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 44                                                                                           RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/04/2024

                                   SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
                                             NEW YORK COUNTY
            PRESENT:             HON. JOHN J. KELLEY                                             PART                              56M
                                                                                      Justice
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X   INDEX NO.          451348/2023
             TERRY CAMPUZANO as Power of Attorney for FRANCIS
             CAMPUZANO,                                                                          MOTION DATE         04/08/2024

                                                         Plaintiff,                              MOTION SEQ. NO.         001

                                                 -v-
             HELPING U HOMECARE, INC., MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL,
             ESSEN MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, HOUSE CALL
             SERVICES OF NEW YORK, VISITING NURSE SERVICE                                          DECISION + ORDER ON
             OF NEW YORK, VNSNY CHHA, and VILLAGE CENTER                                                 MOTION
             FOR CARE, doing business as VILLAGECARE
             REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER,

                                                         Defendants.
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
                                                               LEAVE TO FILE LATE NOTICE OF MEDICAL
            were read on this motion to/for                    MALPRACTICE ACTION/AMEND CAPTION               .

                      In this action to recover damages for medical malpractice based on alleged departures

            from good and accepted practice, common-law negligence, and nursing home negligence

            pursuant to the Public Health Law, the plaintiff moves pursuant to CPLR 2004 and 3406(a) for

            leave to extend the time for filing a notice of medical malpractice action, and deem it to have

            been timely filed, nunc pro tunc, as of February 21, 2023. He also moves pursuant to CPLR

            305(c), 2001, and 3025(b) for leave to amend the caption in order to provide the correct spelling

            of his principal’s first name, which is “Frances,” rather than “Francis.” The defendants do not

            oppose the motion. The motion is granted.

                      The plaintiff commenced this action on November 4, 2022. The defendant Village

            Center for Care, doing business as Villagecare Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, served its

            answer on December 23, 2022, thus triggering the 60-day period for the plaintiff’s service and

             451348/2023 CAMPUZANO, TERRY vs. HELPING U HOMECARE, INC. ET AL                                         Page 1 of 4
             Motion No. 001

                                                                           1 of 4
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                                                                                                    INDEX NO. 451348/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 44                                                                         RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/04/2024

            filing of a notice of medical malpractice action (see CPLR 3406[a]). Since that 60-day period

            ended on February 21, 2023, the plaintiff was obligated to serve and file the notice on or before

            that date. The plaintiff, however, had yet to serve and file the notice by that date. The parties

            nonetheless exchanged discovery requests and responses subsequent to the service of the

            defendants’ answers. On December 21, 2023, the plaintiff made the instant motion.

                     The failure timely to serve and file a notice of medical malpractice action is not fatal to a

            medical malpractice action, and may be rectified by a motion to extend the time for service and

            filing, made pursuant to CPLR 2004 (see Tawari v Tsoutsouras, 75 NY2d 1, 9-10 [1989]; Grad v

            Hafliger, 68 AD3d 543, 544 [1st Dept 2009]). CPLR 2004 permits the court to

                             “extend the time fixed by any statute, rule or order for doing any act, upon such
                             terms as may be just and upon good cause shown, whether the application for
                             extension is made before or after the expiration of the time fixed.”

            Here, the “[p]laintiff made the requisite showing of good cause based on law office failure” (Grad

            v Hafliger, 68 AD3d at 544).

                             “The purpose of a CPLR 3406(a) notice is not to provide defendants with a
                             document suitable for framing, but to trigger expedited discovery and other
                             pretrial devises for resolution of the action. All that has already taken place in
                             this case. The CPLR 3406(a) notice requirement in the current posture of the
                             instant case is more cosmetic than substance”

            (Goldberg v Nathan Littauer Hosp. Assn., 160 Misc 2d 571, 577 [Sup Ct, Albany County 1994]).

                     Accordingly, it is,

                     ORDERED that the plaintiff’s motion seeking to extend the time for the service and filing

            of a notice of medical malpractice action, and for leave to amend the caption, is granted, without

            opposition; and it is further,

                     ORDERED that the proposed notice of medical malpractice action filed by the plaintiff on

            December 21, 2023 is deemed timely to have been served and filed as of August 14, 2023; and

            it is further,

             451348/2023 CAMPUZANO, TERRY vs. HELPING U HOMECARE, INC. ET AL                         Page 2 of 4
             Motion No. 001

                                                            2 of 4
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                                                                                                                       INDEX NO. 451348/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 44                                                                                             RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/04/2024

                    ORDERED that, on or before June 4, 2024, the parties shall submit a proposed

            preliminary conference order to the Part 56 Part Clerk, on a form that shall be provided to them

            by the Part 56 Part Clerk; and it is further,

                    ORDERED that the caption of the action is amended to read as follows:

                    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

                    TERRY CAMPUZANO as Power of Attorney for FRANCES
                    CAMPUZANO,

                                                              Plaintiff,

                                                    -v-

                    HELPING U HOMECARE, INC., MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL,
                    ESSEN MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, HOUSE CALL SERVICES
                    OF NEW YORK, VISITING NURSE SERVICE OF NEW YORK,
                    VNSNY CHHA, and VILLAGE CENTER FOR CARE, doing
                    business as VILLAGECARE REHABILITATION AND
                    NURSING CENTER,

                                                              Defendants.

                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X;

            and it is further,

                    ORDERED that, within 15 days of the entry of this decision and order, the plaintiff shall

            serve a copy of this decision and order upon both the County Clerk and the Clerk of the General

            Clerk’s Office, which shall be effectuated in accordance with the procedures set forth in the

            Protocol on Courthouse and County Clerk Procedures for Electronically Filed Cases, accessible

            at the “E-Filing” page on the court’s website at https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/ courts/

            1jd/supctmanh/Efil-protocol.pdf (nycourts.gov), and, to comply with those procedures, the

            plaintiff shall (1) upload the decision and order to the NYSCEF system under document title

            “SERVICE ON SUPREME COURT CLERK (GENL CLERK) W/COPY OF ORDER” AND (2)

            separately file and upload the notice required by CPLR 8019(c) in a completed Form EF-22,

            along with a copy of the decision and order, under document title “NOTICE TO COUNTY

             451348/2023 CAMPUZANO, TERRY vs. HELPING U HOMECARE, INC. ET AL                                           Page 3 of 4
             Motion No. 001

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                                                                                                    INDEX NO. 451348/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 44                                                                          RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/04/2024

            CLERK CPLR 8019(C),” and the County Clerk and all appropriate court support offices shall

            thereupon amend the court records accordingly.

                    This constitutes the Decision and Order of the court.

                     4/4/2024                                                             $SIG$
                      DATE                                                        JOHN J. KELLEY, J.S.C.

             CHECK ONE:                  CASE DISPOSED                X   NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

                                                                                                   □
                                     X   GRANTED             DENIED       GRANTED IN PART              OTHER

             APPLICATION:                SETTLE ORDER                     SUBMIT ORDER

                                                                                                   □
             CHECK IF APPROPRIATE:       INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN       FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT        REFERENCE

             451348/2023 CAMPUZANO, TERRY vs. HELPING U HOMECARE, INC. ET AL                        Page 4 of 4
             Motion No. 001

                                                           4 of 4
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