Court Opinion

ID: 9691138
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 20:13:19.801235+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:11.463557
License: Public Domain

Cavanagh, J.
(dissenting). I agree with the analysis of the dissent that would recognize a cause of action for the loss of an opportunity to avoid physical harm less than death. However, I also dissent from part n of the majority opinion, which holds that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiffs motion to amend the complaint. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court on this issue, holding that it abused its discretion in denying the plaintiffs motion to amend her complaint to add an allegation of physical and mental pain and suffering from the aggravation of the pulmonary pathology.
As the Court of Appeals so aptly stated in its opinion:
Where a motion for summary disposition is grounded on MCR 2.116(C)(10), the trial court is required to give the parties an opportunity to amend their pleadings as provided by MCR 2.118, unless the amendment would be futile. MCR 2.118(A)(2) provides that leave to amend shall be freely given when justice so requires. The rules pertaining to the amendment of pleadings are designed to facilitate amendment except when prejudice to the opposing party would *675result Amendment is generally a matter of right rather than grace. A motion to amend ordinarily should be granted; denial should only be for particularized reasons, such as undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive, repeated failure to cure deficiency by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party, or futility.
In this case, the trial court stated:
“The Court is satisfied that this is a 1991 case. The Defendant did not have notice that the general damage element of pain and suffering was specific to the damages arising out of pulmonary pathology. Defendants prepared for trial and the Defendants prepared for mediation, the Court is satisfied, due to the loss of renal function. And despite the Plaintiffs contentions, the Court’s satisfied that the . Motion for Amendment of the Complaint, Second Amended Complaint, should be denied, and I do so.”
However, plaintiff stated in her mediation summary that her damages included the “probability that pulmonary damages would have been minimized such that mechanical ventilation and extensive respiratory therapy would not have been necessary.” Plaintiff also alleged in both her original and first amended complaint that on October 23, 1990, she went to defendant Walled Lake Medical Center with a symptom, among others, of “bloody sputum with cough,” that she subsequently was admitted to defendant hospital and examined by defendant Khera, and that defendant Khera failed to obtain a timely pulmonary consultation. Defendants Khera and Ferrer both testified in their depositions that Goodpasture’s Syndrome affects the lungs and that they observed plaintiff having pulmonary problems. Plaintiff was subsequently placed on a respirator. These facts indicate that defendants had notice of potential pulmonary complications and thus would not have been unduly prejudiced by allowing plaintiff to amend her complaint to allege that her damages included pain and suffering from pulmonary aggravation. Because the amendment would not have prejudiced defendants, the mere fact that this case originated in 1991 is an insufficient reason to deny leave to amend.
*676Defendants argue that Dacon v Transue, 441 Mich 315; 490 NW2d 369 (1992), is on point. In Dacon, our Supreme Court upheld the denial of the plaintiff’s motion to amend her complaint. However, in that case the plaintiff sought to add a new theory of medical malpractice. The plaintiff had alleged and developed the case on the theory that the defendants prescribed the wrong medicine, and not until trial did she seek to add a theory alleging that the defendants had negligently delayed treating and medicating her. However, Dacon is distinguishable. In this case, plaintiff sought the amendment before trial. Moreover, plaintiff’s claim of pulmonary damage arises from her original theory that defendants negligently failed to timely diagnose or treat her Goodpasture’s Syndrome.
Thus, although allowing the amendment might have affected the result of the trial, it would not have denied defendants a fair trial. Accordingly, the trial court abused its discretion in denying plaintiff’s motion to amend. We reverse the trial court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion to amend her complaint. On remand, the plaintiff is to be allowed to amend her complaint to add an allegation of pain and suffering relating to pulmonary damage. [210 Mich App 231, 240-242; 533 NW2d 334 (1995) (citations omitted).]
I agree with the analysis of the Court of Appeals, and I would affirm its decision on this issue also.