On February 14, 2022, a patient in the emergency department of a medical facility operated by MedCentral Health System dba Ohio Health Mansfield Hospital was treated by Anand Patel, M.D., who was employed by MidOhio Emergency Physicians, LLP. The patient fell out of her hospital bed, fracturing her neck.
The patient filed an Ohio medical malpractice action against Mansfield Hospital and ten John Doe defendants on October 18, 2022. The John Doe defendants were identified as “physicians, nurses, hospitals, corporations, health care professionals, or other entities that provided negligent medical care to CHRISTINE LEWIS individually or by their agents, apparent agents, or employees, names unknown.”
With the consent of Mansfield Hospital, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint on April 14, 2023, eliminating the John Doe defendants, and adding other defendants to the action. The amended complaint recited the action was filed pursuant to R.C. 2323.451(C) and (D).
The added defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing the one-year statute of limitations for medical claims expired on February 14, 2023, and the action against them was barred. The plaintiff argued pursuant to R.C. 2323.451, a plaintiff pursuing a medical claim may join additional defendants within 180 days following the conclusion of the one-year statute of limitations. The defendants responded R.C. 2323.451 requires compliance with Civ. R. 15(D), and because the plaintiff failed to serve the John Doe defendants as required by the Rule, the amendment was untimely as to the added defendants.
The trial court granted the motion to dismiss finding that the purpose of R.C. 2323.451(D) is to allow for amendment of a complaint past the statute of limitations when new claims are discovered through the discovery process, and does not provide for the substitution of parties known but unnamed in the original complaint. The trial court held the plaintiff was required to follow the procedure under Civ. R. 15(D) for identifying and serving John Doe defendants, who were originally contemplated when the complaint was filed. The trial court dismissed the complaint against the defendants with prejudice, including language there was “no just cause for delay” pursuant to Civ. R. 54(B). The plaintiff appealed.
THe Court of Appeals Richland County, Ohio Fifth Appellate District stated in its February 13, 2024 opinion: “Clearly in order to comply with R.C. 2305.113(B), the plaintiff must have knowledge of both the claim and the identity of the practitioner to whom he or she is sending the 180-day letter. Yet R.C. 2323.451(A)(2) states the procedure outlined in R.C. 2323.541 may be used in lieu of the 180-day letter provided for in R.C. 2305.113(B). If R.C. 2323.451 applied solely to claims or defendants not originally contemplated or generally known when the complaint was initially filed, the procedure would be unavailable to a plaintiff who has sufficient knowledge of the claim and defendants to comply with 2305.113(B)(2). The fact the legislature has clearly stated a plaintiff may use one procedure or the other, but not “stack” both in order to gain 360 additional days beyond the statute of limitations, is an indication the legislature intended R.C. 2323.451 to not be limited solely to claims and defendants which were not known or contemplated by the plaintiff at the time the complaint was filed. We find the trial court erred in finding Appellant could not amend her complaint to add Appellees within the time frame set forth in R.C. 2323.451.”
“We find Appellees are “additional defendants” pursuant to R.C. 2323.451(D) because they were not specifically identified in the initial complaint, but were only generally within the purview of the description of the unknown John Doe defendants. We find the trial court erred in dismissing Appellees from the instant case based on the expiration of the statute of limitations.”
Source Lewis v. MedCentral Health Sys., 2024-Ohio-533.
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