Kathleen George v. Mt. Sinai Hospital

Plaintiff, the administratrix of the estate of Katherine David, seeks to recover damages for personal injuries claimed to have been suffered by the decedent in August of 1972 as a result of defendants alleged malpractice. At issue on this appeal is the breadth of CPLR 205 (subd [a]) and the proper application of that statute, if any, to this case. Following the alleged malpractice, decedent retained an attorney for the purpose of instituting an action against defendant. In September of 1973 the summons and complaint in that action were served upon defendant. Katherine David was the named plaintiff in that suit, although, apparently unbeknownst to the attorney, she had died in the interim. The record does not indicate any causal connection between the alleged malpractice and her death, nor has any attempt been made to assert a claim for wrongful death against defendant. What followed could aptly be denominated a comedy of errors were it not for the potentially devastating effect of those events upon what might be a valid claim.