Robins v. Procure Treatment Ctrs., Inc.

• Decision Date: 02 January 2020
• Docket Number: Index 805644/15,10690N
• Parties: Barbara ROBINS, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. PROCURE TREATMENT CENTERS, INC., et al., Defendants, Princeton Procure Management, LLC, et al., Defendants–Appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

179 A.D.3d 412
116 N.Y.S.3d 35

Barbara ROBINS, Plaintiff–Respondent,
v.
PROCURE TREATMENT CENTERS, INC., et al., Defendants,

Princeton Procure Management, LLC, et al., Defendants–Appellants.

10690N
Index 805644/15

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

ENTERED: JANUARY 2, 2020

116 N.Y.S.3d 36

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, White Plains (Roland T. Koke of counsel), for Princeton Procure Management, LLC, and Procure Proton Therapy Center, appellants.

Amabile & Erman, P.C., Staten Island (Charles A. Franchini of counsel), for Henry K. Tsai, M.D., and Brian H. Chon, M.D., appellants.

Law Office of Robert F. Danzi, Jericho (Robert F. Danzi of counsel), for respondent.

Richter, J.P., Gische, Mazzarelli, Gesmer, JJ.

179 A.D.3d 412

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (George J. Silver, J.), entered January 17, 2019, which to the extent appealed from, upon reargument, determined that personal jurisdiction existed over defendants Princeton Procure Management, LLC and Procure Proton Therapy Center (together, PPM), and over defendants Henry K. Tsai, M.D., and Brian H. Chon, M.D., and dismissed PPM's affirmative defense of lack of personal jurisdiction, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, PPM's affirmative defense reinstated, and the action dismissed as against Drs. Tsai and Chon. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of Drs. Tsai and Chon.

In this medical malpractice action, plaintiff alleges that in 2013 she was referred by defendant Mount Sinai Hospital, a New York entity, for proton therapy treatment at a facility in New Jersey owned by PPM, and that the treatment resulted in bilateral blindness. Plaintiff alleges that defendant Princeton Radiology Associates, P.A. (PRO), is comprised of doctors, including Drs. Tsai and Chon, who specialize in radiation oncology and provide services at the proton therapy facility in New Jersey.

After defendants PPM, PRO, Tsai and Chon moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, the motion court found that plaintiff had made a "substantial start" in demonstrating a basis for personal jurisdiction over those defendants. PPM appealed and this Court affirmed, noting the evidence that PPM had identified a principal place of business in New York, and that it "marketed its Somerset, New Jersey, location to target New York residents, touting its proximity to New York in advertising," and "entered into an agreement with a consortium of New York City hospitals for the referral of cancer patients for treatment at its facility" ( Robins v. Procure Treatment Ctrs., Inc., 157 A.D.3d 606, 607, 70 N.Y.S.3d 457 [1st Dept. 2018] ).

Following jurisdictional discovery, the parties, at the direction

179 A.D.3d 413

of the court, made submissions on the issue of whether plaintiff could meet her ultimate burden of showing that personal jurisdiction existed over appellants (...