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Walters v. Hobbs8/22/2001
Argued and submitted December 12, 2000.
The judgment in favor of plaintiff Sherri Walters is reversed and the case is remanded to the trial court for entry of judgment in favor of Hobbs; the judgment in favor of plaintiff Cheyenne Walters is affirmed.
Defendant Hobbs appeals from money judgments entered on jury verdicts in favor of plaintiffs Sherri Walters Sherri and her daughter Cheyenne Walters (Cheyenne) by and through her guardian ad litem Sherri Walters in this medical malpractice action. Plaintiffs alleged that Hobbs was negligent in failing to provide appropriate prenatal care and medical treatment to Sherri and Cheyenne during the period preceding and immediately after Cheyenne's birth, resulting in injuries to both Sherri and Cheyenne. On appeal, Hobbs raises a battery of challenges to both verdicts. We reject Hobbs's assignments of error pertaining to Cheyenne's claims and, thus, affirm the verdict in favor of Cheyenne. However, we agree with Hobbs that the trial court erred in permitting Sherri to amend the complaint after the statute of limitations had expired to add new allegations which, ultimately, provided the basis of the jury's award of damages to Sherri. Specifically, we conclude that those allegations did not "relate back" to the prior, timely-filed complaint. Consequently, the judgment for Sherri must be reversed.
Cheyenne was born on February 15, 1993. On February 10, 1995, plaintiffs filed their initial complaint. That complaint, styled as a "complaint for personal injury ," listed as plaintiffs Kenny Walters, Sherri Walters, and Cheyenne L. Walters by and through her guardian ad litem Sherri Walters. It alleged, in pertinent part, that between April 23, 1992, and February 16, 1993, a physician-patient relationship existed between plaintiffs and Hobbs, and that Hobbs provided prenatal and obstetrical care to Sherri throughout her pregnancy. The complaint further alleged that, at her birth some two weeks after her due date, Cheyenne weighed three pounds 12 ounces. Plaintiffs alleged that they and Hobbs initially planned for a vaginal delivery but, after Sherri was admitted to the hospital on February 15, 1993, stress tests indicated fetal distress and, after a failed attempt to induce labor, a caesarian section delivery was performed.
Additionally, the complaint alleged that: (1) Cheyenne was stained with meconium at birth, was placed on a ventilator due to respiratory distress, and was transferred to another hospital shortly after birth due to her condition; (2) Cheyenne required lengthy hospitalization, followed by home care that included both medication and ventilation oxygen; and (3) Cheyenne suffered permanent damage to her lungs, as well as significant and irremediable stunting of her growth and development.
The original complaint's specifications of negligence are central to our analysis of the "relation back" issue, so we reproduce them verbatim:
"That defendant John M. Hobbs herein was negligent in the following particulars, causing the hereinafter following injuries to the plaintiffs:
"A. In failing to properly monitor the growth of minor Cheyenne L. Walters during the prenatal phase while providing obstetrical care and treatment to plaintiff Sherri Walters;
"B. In failing to properly foresee and prepare for a small-for-gestational-age baby in light of the fact that defendant Hobbs was fully aware of medications plaintiff Sherri Walters was taking which increased the potentiality for a small fetus;
"C. In failing to take serial ultrasound during the prenatal period in light of the fact that defendant Hobbs was fully aware that plaintiff Sherri Walters was taking
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