Pasadena Hospital Ass'n v. Superior Court

Defendant Pasadena Hospital Association, Ltd., doing business as Huntington Memorial Hospital (Hospital), seeks a writ of mandate directing respondent superior court to sustain its demurrer to plaintiff’s libel claim and to strike the entire first amended complaint as nugatory. Hospital argues that the superior court erred in permitting the filing of the first amended complaint, naming plaintiff’s professional corporation as a new party plaintiff, after the expiration of the applicable limitations period. As we conclude that (1) plaintiff and plaintiff’s professional corporation are, for purposes of this action, essentially the same, (2) the same general set of facts is alleged and the “relation back” rule should apply and (3) Hospital will suffer no prejudice whatever, we deny the writ.

Facts

In May of 1983, plaintiff Andre Bieniarz, M.D., agreed to direct a perinatal outreach program on behalf of Hospital, which was committed to providing tertiary-level perinatal care for the subregion in which it was located. In March of 1984, Bieniarz assumed sole responsibility for perinatal patient care at the Hospital and he continued to provide such services until October of…