Robin Schair, Of Counsel in our Purchase, New York office, prevailed on a motion to dismiss a malpractice claim against our client nurse in Bronx County, New York.  Plaintiff’s 71-year-old decedent died after a fall, and plaintiff alleged that our nurse client was negligent in drafting the care plan.  MMP&S moved to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds.  Although plaintiff asserted a cause of action for ordinary negligence, which is subject to a three-year statute of limitations, rather than medical malpractice, in which a two-and-a-half-year limitations period applies, we argued that the essence of the claim was for malpractice because it would necessarily require an interpretation of the nursing standard of care involving how nurses assess patients to determine what services they require and if they are at risk for falls.  Since plaintiff commenced the action more than two and a half years after plaintiff’s decedent’s fall, the claim was untimely.

The court agreed and held that allegations about fall-risk assessment, care-plan formulation or revision, and clinical determinations regarding the required level of supervision implicate the nurse’s professional role and sound in malpractice.  Therefore, the claims were time-barred.

Practice Area: Healthcare & Medical