Mundy

Plaintiff Orell M. Mundy appeals from the judgment entered in favor of defendants Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc., and Mutual Protection Trust after the trial court granted defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings. Plaintiff’s lawsuit, brought after she litigated a medical malpractice action, is merely an attempt to recover additional compensation in the form of punitive damages from defendants who are entities with whom she was not in a contractual relationship based upon a claim of bad faith refusal to negotiate a settlement. We will reject plaintiff’s efforts to expand the now discredited theory of permitting such actions by third party claimants.

To place the matter in proper context, we begin with a chronological statement of the relevant events.

In August 1978, Dr. James Vaccaro, a plastic cosmetic surgeon, rendered medical treatment to plaintiff.

In August 1979, plaintiff filed a medical malpractice action against Dr. Vaccaro. She made a settlement demand for $65,000. Dr. Vaccaro offered $7,500 to settle the matter. Neither demand nor offer was accepted.

The case proceeded to trial and the jury awarded plaintiff $25,000 in compensatory damages…