Court Opinion

ID: 9720373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:28:28.29785+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:03:24.222453
License: Public Domain

Boyle, J.
Although I concur in the majority’s conclusion that the trial court’s refusal to permit the plaintiff to amend his pleading was not an abuse of discretion, I write separately because to the extent that the majority’s opinion can be read to reaffirm Simonelli v Cassidy, 336 Mich 635; 59 NW2d 28 (1953), I disagree.
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The sole issue presented in this case is whether the "trial court erred when it excluded the plaintiff’s theory that the defendants were liable for delaying the initial administration of antibiotics.” (Order granting leave to appeal.) 437 Mich 1047 (1991). The answer to that question requires an interpretation of MCR 2.118(C)(2), the rule governing amendments of pleading during trial.1
*342In answering the question before the Court, there is no need to opine on the question of Simonelli v Cassidy, supra, because the question is not whether the complaint should be dismissed for lack of specificity; the question is whether the trial court erred in refusing to allow an amendment during trial.
The majority correctly rules that it was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to conclude 1) that the theory set forth in plaintiff’s complaint and upon which the parties proceeded to trial was that the defendants failed to diagnose ampicillinresistant meningitis, and 2) that this theory differed from that raised during trial. That being said, it is unnecessary to reaffirm Simonelli, a case decided prior to the adoption of the General Court Rules of 1963, which liberalized the pleading requirements.2
In this case, the Court is not confined to an analysis of the complaint and the amendment because it is analyzing the trial court’s exercise of discretion after trial commenced. The initial complaint failed to set forth facts regarding a delay in treatment after diagnosis. Despite requests for specific facts supporting allegations of a failure to provide appropriate treatment in interrogatories, plaintiff failed to provide answers that sharpened the issues sufficiently to provide adequate notice in advance of trial that a theory to be presented at trial was a delay in the administration of medica*343tion upon diagnosis of meningitis. Moreover, plaintiff’s mediation summary and opening statement at trial continued to focus on the failure to treat for ampicillin-resistant meningitis. It is within this context that the trial court considered whether to grant plaintiff the right to amend his complaint on the third day of trial.
To be sure, the complexity of medical malpractice litigation may demand more in the way of fair notice than a slip and fall. The answer to the question whether adequate notice has been given depends on when it is asked. To state the obvious, plaintiff’s theory might have been adequate when it was filed, but it was not adequate notice of the theory advanced at trial. Motion practice, discovery, mediation, and the considerable management authority of the trial court insure that, in all but the rarest instances, the parties to civil litigation know what the issues are to be tried and how they will try them. In that rare case — this one — the trial court has broad authority to prevent belated blindsiding by either party. It has not been demonstrated that there is a necessity to breathe new life into Simonelli. Most importantly, in my view, it is unwise to add ammunition to the war of attrition that the discovery process can all too easily become.

 MCR 2.118(C)(2) provides:
If evidence is objected to at trial on the ground that it is not within the issues raised by the pleadings, amendment to conform to that proof shall not be allowed unless the party seeking to amend satisfies the court that the amendment and the admission of the evidence would not prejudice the objecting party in maintaining his or her action or defense on the merits. *342The court may grant an adjournment to enable the objecting party to meet the evidence.

 Honigman and Hawkins observe that GCR 1963, 111, the predecessor of MCR 2.111, which is substantially similar, liberalized the requirement that facts be pleaded "to the extent that no pleading shall be deemed insufficient if it reasonably informs the adverse party of the nature of the cause he is called upon to defend.” Honigman & Hawkins, Michigan Court Rules Annotated (2d ed), Committee Notes to Rule 111, p 191.