Kinford v. Bannister

913 F. Supp. 2d 1010, 2012 WL 6627995, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179416
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedDecember 18, 2012
DocketNo. 3:11-cv-00701-RCJ-WGC
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 913 F. Supp. 2d 1010 (Kinford v. Bannister) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kinford v. Bannister, 913 F. Supp. 2d 1010, 2012 WL 6627995, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179416 (D. Nev. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

WILLIAM G. COBB, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the court is Plaintiffs “Motion for Leave to File An Amended Civil Rights Complaint” (Doc. # 76). Defendants Bannister, Johns and Mar have filed a “limited opposition” to the motion, mainly on the grounds that Plaintiff “fails to attach his amended complaint so that it is full and complete in and of itself____” (Doc. #78 at 2.) However, it appears that Defendants’ counsel overlooks document 76-1 which, although not labeled as such, is Plaintiffs proposed amended complaint (Doc. # 76-1, Exh. 5, pp. 2-16). Thus, Plaintiff has com[1013]*1013plied with both LR 15-l(a) and this court’s minute order of 10/19/12 (Doc. # 73).

The essence of the motion to amend is that Plaintiff states he was mistakenly operating under the assumption that ' Dr. Philip Schlager performed the surgery of which he originally complained.1 When he discovered that Dr. James Pincock, and not Dr. Schlager, was the surgeon involved with his treatment, Plaintiff agreed to dismiss Dr. Schlager from this action (Doc. ## 73, 74); Dr. Schlager was dismissed on 11/27/12 (Doc. # 77). The proposed amended complaint asserts the same allegations which were averred against Dr. Schlager as against Dr. Pincock, i.e., common law negligence claims and an Eighth Amendment claim of deliberate indifference to Plaintiffs serious medical needs. (Doc. 76-1 at 10-11.)

I. Legal Standards

Amendment of complaints should not be granted where the proposed amendment would be futile. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962). A proposed amended complaint should be rejected where it could not survive a motion to dismiss. See, e.g., Rodriguez v. U.S., 286 F.3d 972, 980 (7th Cir.2002); Rose v. Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co., 203 F.3d 417, 420 (6th Cir.2000). Because Defendants were apparently unaware Plaintiffs motion (Doc. # 76) included a proposed amended complaint (Doc. # 76-1), Defendants did not substantively respond to Plaintiff’s motion. As reflected herein, Defendants will be afforded another opportunity to do so. However, in the interim, the court will provide certain initial observations the court has regarding the viability of the proposed claims asserted against Dr. Pincock.2

II. Analysis of Proposed Amended Complaint

A. Common Law Claims of Professional Negligence (Medical Malpractice)

(1) Absence of Medical Malpractice Affidavit

Plaintiffs proposed common law claims against Dr. Pincock do not satisfy NRS 41A.071. In this court’s Report and Recommendation of 7/27/12 (Doc. #47), 2012 WL 6210053 regarding Dr. Schlager’s motion to dismiss (Doc. # 39), this court noted that under Nevada state law, a “malpractice action” is “void ab initio” if the complaint is not accompanied by an affidavit of a qualified health care professional attesting to the alleged professional negligence. Report and Recommendation, Doc. #47 at 10, citing Nev.Rev.Stat. 41A.071 and Washoe Med. Ctr. v. Second Judicial Dist. Ct., 122 Nev. 1298, 148 P.3d 790, 794 (2006).

Subsequent -to the issuance of this court’s Report and Recommendation on Dr. Schlager’s motion to dismiss, the Hon. Robert C. Jones, District Judge, issued an order which dealt with, inter alia, the affidavit requirement of Nev.Rev.Stat. 41A.071. (Doc. # 79.) Although Judge Jones noted Dr. Schlager’s motion to dismiss was moot by reason of the parties’ stipulation and the court’s order dismissing Defendant Schlager (Doc. # 77), Judge Jones further determined that a “pure issue of law” remained, i.e., the medical malpractice affidavit requirement, which was not mooted by reason of Plaintiffs [1014]*1014motion to amend. (Doc. # 79 at 1.) Judge Jones concluded the medical affidavit is a nonwaivable condition precedent to the commencement of a medical malpractice lawsuit governed by Nevada law. (Id. at 2.) His decision has become the “law of the case” in this matter and would govern, as Judge Jones noted, Plaintiffs attempt to effect an amendment of his action to allege a standard medical malpractice claim against Dr. Pincock. (Id. at 1.) As such, Plaintiffs motion to amend to assert a medical malpractice action in the absence of the appropriate affidavit is futile and must be denied in accordance with Judge Jones’ order herein.

Apparently anticipating this probable objection to his proposed amended complaint, Plaintiff seeks to be excused from Nevada’s statutory affidavit requirement by contending in his motion he is a confined inmate and does not have access to medical personnel. (Doc. # 76 at 8.) He asserted a similar argument in his objection to the Report and Recommendation (Doc. # 75 at 2-3).3 Whether the law affords Plaintiff relief from the affidavit requirements of Chapter 41 A because of his prisoner status does not appear to have been specifically adjudicated, but the decision of Judge Jones herein, and the opinions of the Nevada Supreme Court, leave little doubt that medical malpractice actions filed without the statutorily-required affidavit do not state a claim for relief and that no exceptions to this obligation would seemingly be authorized.4

In Borger v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, the Nevada Supreme Court, albeit in dicta, concluded “NRS 41A.071 clearly mandates dismissal, without leave to amend, for complete failure to attach an affidavit to the complaint. This interpretation is consistent with the underlying purpose of the measure, which is to ensure that such actions be brought in good faith based upon competent expert opinion.” 120 Nev. 1021, 1029, 102 P.3d 600, 606 (2004) (emphasis added); accord Collins v. MacArthur, No. 3:05-cv-237-PMP-VPC, 2006 WL 1966728, at *2 (D.Nev.2006); cf. Washoe Med. Ctr. v. Second Judicial Dist. Court of State of Nevada ex rel. County of Washoe, 122 Nev. 1298, 1303-04, 148 P.3d 790, 793-94 (2006) (holding “a medical malpractice complaint filed without a supporting medical expert affidavit is void ab initio ...” and, as a consequence, “it does not legally exist and thus it cannot be amended [under Rule 15(a) of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure]”); Fierle v. Perez, 125 Nev. 728, 219 P.3d 906, 914 (2009) (concluding “medical malpractice and professional negligence claims made in a complaint that become void ab initio for lack of the attachment of an expert affidavit may not be cured by the amendment of that complaint....”).

Thus, plaintiffs attempts to amend his action to assert a standard medical malpractice action without the affidavit required by Nev.Rev.Stat.

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Bluebook (online)
913 F. Supp. 2d 1010, 2012 WL 6627995, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kinford-v-bannister-nvd-2012.