Floyd v. Rentrop
| Decision Date | 20 August 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 5,5 |
| Parties | Ethel T. FLOYD and R. Earl Floyd, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. William E. RENTROP, M.D., and St. Francis Hospital, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. 675 S.W.2d 165 |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Gary K. Morrell, James S. Cox & Assoc., Memphis, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Jerry E. Mitchell, Thomason, Hendrix, Harvey, Johnson, Mitchell, Blanchard & Adams, Memphis, for defendants-appellees.
Plaintiffs Ethel T. Floyd and husband, R. Earl Floyd, on March 26, 1981, filed their action against defendants John M. Reisser, M.D., and St. Francis Hospital alleging negligence of the Defendants in leaving a sponge in the body of the plaintiff, Mrs. Ethel Floyd, while she was undergoing an operation on October 2, 1979. The Complaint, which was served on defendant Reisser on March 31, 1981, alleged that plaintiff was discharged from the defendant hospital on or about October 23, 1979, but she continued to have pain, drainage and other symptoms, until ultimately she was readmitted to the same hospital. On or about April 4, 1980, plaintiff was again taken to the operating room under the direction of defendant Dr. Reisser, who performed a second surgical procedure which revealed the presence of the aforementioned surgical sponge or gauze pack in the body of plaintiff.
Apparently, plaintiff learned the reason for her difficulty on April 7, 1980.
On April 6, 1981, before Dr. Reisser answered or otherwise pleaded, plaintiffs in the same case filed an "amended complaint," the context of which is essentially the same as the original complaint, except that it alleged that the surgery on October 2, 1979 was performed by William E. Rentrop, M.D., and William E. Rentrop, M.D. is made a party defendant. Appellee Rentrop conceded in his brief and elsewhere that he is Dr. Reisser's partner. On the same day, April 6, 1981, an order of voluntary dismissal as to defendant John M. Reisser, M.D., was entered by the trial court on motion of the plaintiffs.
Hospital records filed as exhibits to this appeal clearly indicate that Dr. W.E. Rentrop was the physician and surgeon for the operation. According to the operative report, Dr. Rentrop was the operating surgeon; no assisting surgeon was listed; and the report was dictated by Dr. Rentrop. The discharge summary, which was dictated by Dr. Rentrop, indicated that he had performed the surgery. Neither of the above-mentioned documents listed the name of Dr. Reisser nor indicated that he participated in plaintiff's surgery.
The deposition of Mrs. Floyd is part of the record on appeal. In this testimony, Mrs. Floyd states that Dr. Rentrop was her doctor in years past, but that after Dr. Reisser moved in with him, Dr. Rentrop "just sort of pushed me over to Reisser." She continued to see Rentrop when Reisser was not in the office, and stated that when she went in for the surgery which is the subject of this lawsuit, she was so sick that she did not remember anything until she awakened in the intensive care unit.
Dr. William E. Rentrop filed his answer to the amended complaint on June 1, 1981. It contains the following paragraph:
This defendant denies that the plaintiff Ethel T. Floyd was admitted to St. Francis Hospital by him or under his direction. He further denies that he performed the surgical procedure described in the Complaint, although he admits that he assisted the surgeon who performed such procedure, and further admits that the hospital chart contains clerical errors indicating that he was the principal surgeon.
On July 7, 1981, Dr. Rentrop, in a supplemental answer, stated:
[T]hat defendant William E. Rentrop did not perform the surgery, but simply assisted in the performance of the surgery; however, this defendant admits that a surgical sponge was left inside the body of the plaintiff ....
On November 23, 1981, the defendant St. Francis Hospital, in its answer, stated that: "This Defendant admits that the Plaintiff, Ethel T. Floyd, was admitted to St. Francis Hospital, Inc. on or about September 27, 1979 ... by William E. Rentrop, M.D." (Emphasis added)
On May 7, 1982 (thirteen months and one day after the "amended complaint" was filed), the plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to amend the amended complaint, so as to join John M. Reisser, M.D., as a party defendant and expressly relied upon Rule 15.03, Tennessee Rules Civil Procedure.
On the same date, interrogatories were propounded to Dr. William E. Rentrop, as to which physician assisted, directed, or performed the surgery of October 2, 1979.
On August 4, 1982, Dr. Rentrop responded that
On October 19, 1982, the Trial Judge denied plaintiffs' motion to amend so as to add John M. Reisser, M.D., as a party defendant, on the grounds that as a matter of law, any cause of action as to Dr. Reisser was barred by the applicable statute of limitations.
Interlocutory appeal was subsequently allowed by the Trial Court and the Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals, with Judge Nearn dissenting, held that since Dr. Reisser had been sued and non-suit then taken against him, T.C.A. Sec. 28-1-105 1, commonly known as the saving statute, barred the amendment so as to add Dr. Reisser, and that any new action taken by the plaintiffs against Dr. Reisser must have been commenced within one year from the taking of the voluntary non-suit on April 6, 1981, citing Turner v. N.C. & St. L. Railway, 199 Tenn. 137, 285 S.W.2d 122 (1955); and Balsinger v. Gass, 214 Tenn. 343, 379 S.W.2d 800 (1964). We think it evident that a majority of the Court of Appeals were of the opinion that since a suit was brought against Dr. Reisser, the filing of the non-suit with respect to him automatically triggered the savings statute. The majority specifically held that Rule 15.03 had no application to the case at bar. If Rule 15.03 is applicable, the fact that Dr. Reisser had once been a party to the suit has no significance to its application in this case, except to show notice of the institution of the suit within the time provided by law.
We are of the opinion that the Court of Appeals erred, that Rule 15.03 T.R.C.P. is applicable to the facts of the case, that the Trial Judge erred in denying the amendment adding Dr. Reisser as a party defendant, and that T.C.A. Sec. 28-1-105 has no application to the case.
T.R.C.P. 15.03 provides that an amended complaint...
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Biscan v. Brown, No. M2001-02766-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. App. 12/15/2003)
...Thus, Tenn. R. Civ. P. 15.03 is construed liberally in order to promote the consideration of claims on their merits. Floyd v. Rentrop, 675 S.W.2d 165, 168 (Tenn. 1984); Townes v. Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc., 50 S.W.3d 446, 451 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001); McCracken v. Brentwood United Methodist Churc......
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Rainey Bros. v. Memphis & Shelby Cty Bd of Adjust.
...Bros. Constr. Co.. Inc. v. Memphis & Shelby County Bd. of Adjustment, 821 S.W.2d 938, 942 (Tenn.Ct.App.1991) (citing Floyd v. Rentrop, 675 S.W.2d 165, 168 (Tenn.1984)). A review of Floyd, however, reveals that the plaintiff in that case sought to add a party to the action and not legal clai......
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McCracken v. Brentwood United Methodist Church
...of Nashville, Inc., 827 S.W.2d 318, 321-22 (Tenn.Ct.App.1991). Timely notice is the linchpin of Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03. Floyd v. Rentrop, 675 S.W.2d 165, 168 (Tenn.1984). The cases construing Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03 have focused on the content of the notice, the time within which the notice must b......
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Shockley v. Mental Health Coop., Inc.
...construe Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 15.03 liberally to promote the consideration of claims on their merits. Floyd v. Rentrop, 675 S.W.2d 165, 168 (Tenn.1984); McCracken v. Brentwood United Methodist Church, 958 S.W.2d 792, 794 (Tenn.Ct.App.1997). However, Rule 15.03 should not be use......