C.H. v. Whitney
987 So. 2d 96 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)
A mother filed a medical malpractice action against health care providers after her child was born prematurely, suffering permanent physical and mental injuries. The trial court granted the health care providers' motion to dismiss the second amended complaint, which was the third complaint filed in the action. The first two complaints alleged medical malpractice and designated a guardian as the plaintiff. The second amended complaint designated the mother and a trustee as the plaintiffs. The trial court ruled that the second amended complaint did not relate back to the prior complaints, and, thus, the statute of limitations had run on the cause of action. On appeal, the court found that the dismissal was improper because the second amended complaint related back to the time of the filing of the earlier complaints under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190(c). Once the mother amended the complaint to eliminate the damages disallowed under a legal theory of wrongful life, the court should have allowed the medical malpractice action under the legal theory of wrongful birth to proceed. At all times the complaints alleged an action for medical malpractice claiming
damages for medical expenses for the care of the child. The mother and the child had an
identity of interest in seeking damages for the child's medical care and the health care
providers failed to show that they would be prejudiced by the change of parties.