Plaintiff Permitted to Amend Med Mal Complaint to Conform Pleadings to Additional Information Gathered During Discovery

In the case of Kellock v. Wilkes-Barre Hospital Co., LLC, No. 17-CV-4655 (C.P. Lacka. Co. Dec. 20, 2018 Nealon, J.), the court addressed issues pertaining to a request to amend a medical malpractice Complaint to conform to the evidence adduced during discovery.  

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiffs in this matter filed a medical malpractice Complaint against various Defendants involved with the birth and neonatal care of their child.  

Following the deposition of one of the Defendant doctors, the Plaintiff sought to amend their Complaint to add additional allegations of negligence against that particular Defendant doctor and one of the hospitals involved based upon the information gathered at the deposition.   The Plaintiffs asserted that they should be permitted to amend their pleading under Pa.R.C.P. 1033 and given that the statute of limitations had not expired relative to the claims brought on behalf of a minor Plaintiff.  

Applying the liberal standards pertaining to amendment of pleadings and noting that the Defendants had not established any prejudice in this context, the court allowed the requested amendments.   The court also noted that the proposed amendments served to merely amplify the Plaintiff’s already existing allegations.   Based, in part, on these factors, the Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend was granted.   

Anyone wishing to review this decision by Judge Nealon in the Kellock case may click this LINK.