§ 3012-A — Certificate of merit in medical, dental and podiatric malpractice actions

§ 3012-a. Certificate of merit in medical, dental and podiatric\nmalpractice actions. (a) In any action for medical, dental or podiatric\nmalpractice, the complaint shall be accompanied by a certificate,\nexecuted by the attorney for the plaintiff, declaring that:\n (1) the attorney has reviewed the facts of the case and has consulted\nwith at least one physician in medical malpractice actions, at least one\ndentist in dental malpractice actions or at least one podiatrist in\npodiatric malpractice actions who is licensed to practice in this state\nor any other state and who the attorney reasonably believes is\nknowledgeable in the relevant issues involved in the particular action,\nand that the attorney has concluded on the basis of such review and\nconsultation that there is a reasonable basis for the commencement of\nsuch action; or\n (2) the attorney was unable to obtain the consultation required by\nparagraph one of this subdivision because a limitation of time,\nestablished by article two of this chapter, would bar the action and\nthat the certificate required by paragraph one of this subdivision could\nnot reasonably be obtained before such time expired. If a certificate is\nexecuted pursuant to this subdivision, the certificate required by this\nsection shall be filed within ninety days after service of the\ncomplaint; or\n (3) the attorney was unable to obtain the consultation required by\nparagraph one of this subdivision because the attorney had made three\nseparate good faith attempts with three separate physicians, dentists or\npodiatrists, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph one of this\nsubdivision to obtain such consultation and none of those contacted\nwould agree to such a consultation.\n (b) Where a certificate is required pursuant to this section, a single\ncertificate shall be filed for each action, even if more than one\ndefendant has been named in the complaint or is subsequently named.\n (c) Where the attorney intends to rely solely on the doctrine of "res\nipsa loquitur", this section shall be inapplicable. In such cases, the\ncomplaint shall be accompanied by a certificate, executed by the\nattorney, declaring that the attorney is solely relying on such doctrine\nand, for that reason, is not filing a certificate required by this\nsection.\n (d) If a request by the plaintiff for the records of the plaintiff's\nmedical or dental treatment by the defendants has been made and such\nrecords have not been produced, the plaintiff shall not be required to\nserve the certificate required by this section until ninety days after\nsuch records have been produced.\n (e) For purposes of this section, and subject to the provisions of\nsection thirty-one hundred one of this chapter, an attorney who submits\na certificate as required by paragraph one or two of subdivision (a) of\nthis section and the physician, dentist or podiatrist with whom the\nattorney consulted shall not be required to disclose the identity of the\nphysician, dentist or podiatrist consulted and the contents of such\nconsultation; provided, however, that when the attorney makes a claim\nunder paragraph three of subdivision (a) of this section that he was\nunable to obtain the required consultation with the physician, dentist\nor podiatrist, the court may, upon the request of a defendant made prior\nto compliance by the plaintiff with the provisions of section thirty-one\nhundred of this chapter, require the attorney to divulge to the court\nthe names of physicians, dentists or podiatrists refusing such\nconsultation.\n (f) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to a\nplaintiff who is not represented by an attorney.\n (g) The plaintiff may, in lieu of serving the certificate required by\nthis section, provide the defendant or defendants with the information\nrequired by paragraph one of subdivision (d) of section thirty-one\nhundred one of this chapter within the period of time prescribed by this\nsection.\n