Court Opinion

ID: 9767196
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:12:19.173414+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:29.417470
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
dissenting.
I cannot agree that the allegations of the proposed amended complaint merely amplify the initial cause of action. The operative facts supporting the claim have been changed so that the act charged with causing the harm is one of omission rather than one of commission. When appellants could not prove that the barium enema procedure caused the perforation of the colon, the original cause of action was abandoned. The amended complaint’s allegation that the negligence upon which suit is brought consists of delay in determining and performing the “necessary laparotomy and cleansing of the abdominal cavity” is manifestly a new cause of action.
A cause of action in negligence has been defined as the negligent act or acts which occasioned the injury for which relief is sought. Wilson v. Howard Johnson Restaurant, 421 Pa. 455, 219 A.2d 676 (1966); Cox v. Wilkes-Barre Railway-Corporation, 334 Pa. 568, 570, 6 A.2d 538 (1939). A new cause of action arises if the amendment proposes a different theory or a different kind of negligence than the one previously raised or if the operative facts supporting the claim are changed. Junk v. East End Fire Dept, 262 Pa.Super.Ct. 473, 490-491, 396 A.2d 1269, 1277 (1978). 2B Anderson, Pennsylvania Civil Practice, § 1033.28 and 1033.31. Accord Laursen v. General Hospital of Monroe County, 494 Pa. 238, 431 A.2d 237 (1981); Wilson v. Howard Johnson Restaurant, 421 Pa. 455, 219 A.2d 676 (1966).
And while it is true that the right to amend should be liberally granted, an amendment introducing a new cause of *313action will not be permitted after the statute of limitations has run. See Laursen v. General Hospital of Monroe County, supra; Kuisis v. Baldin-Lima-Hamilton Corp., 457 Pa. 321, 319 A.2d 914 (1974); Schaffer v. Larzelere, 410 Pa. 402, 189 A.2d 267 (1963).
Here, appellants attempted to avoid a dismissal by attempting to amend the complaint at the day of trial. Appellants no longer alleged that the perforation of the sigmoid colon caused barium peritonitis. Now it is sought to be charged that the “necessary laparotomy and cleansing of the abdominal cavity ...” was delayed improperly, causing extensive peritonitis. The alleged negligence of failing to immediately perform surgery and to cleanse the abdominal cavity are acts which occurred after the perforation of the colon. Of necessity, the proof required to defend also must change when new supporting facts are alleged. This would result in prejudice to the adverse party. Wilson v. Howard Johnson Restaurant, supra; Junk v. East End Fire Depart., supra.
However, I do not believe that the boiler-plate allegation of negligence in the complaint, seized upon by the majority as encompassing the subsequent specification of negligence, should be allowed to defeat the salutory purpose of the statute of limitations and frustrate the objectives of our longstanding practice of fact pleading. Schaffer v. Larzelere, supra.
The decision to grant or deny permission to amend is within the discretion of the trial court and should be reversed only upon a showing of a clear abuse of discretion. Geiman v. Board of Assessment and Revision of Taxes, 412 Pa. 608, 195 A.2d 352 (1963); Schaffer v. Larzelere, supra. There is no such abuse of discretion here. Even if this were a case where reasonable minds could differ, the lower court should not be reversed.
I therefore dissent.