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Case Law Alerts

Defendants must comply with notice requirements for dismissing a medical malpractice case based on the lack of a certificate of merit.

Dellaria v. Hershey Medical Center, 2022 WL 1785481 Jun. 1, 2022

October 1, 2022

by Gabor Ovari

This case also involves the issue of whether a medical malpractice claim could be dismissed due to the plaintiff’s failure to file certificates of merit.

The case involved various claims filed by an inmate against the defendant medical center, and only a portion of the case dealt with issues impacting health law. The plaintiff was receiving ophthalmological treatment at the medical center and underwent a procedure to correct his vision. Following the procedure, the plaintiff developed a cyst in his left eye, which allegedly burst.

After the plaintiff filed his complaint, the defendant sought to dismiss the malpractice claim because the plaintiff failed to file certificates of merit. However, the U.S. District Court disagreed. The court explained that the defendants failed to comply with the notice requirements for dismissing a case based on the lack of a certificate of merit. Under Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1042.7, defendants may not seek dismissal of a malpractice claim based on a certificate of merit unless the defendants have provided 30 days' notice prior to seeking dismissal. In this case the defendant failed to provide this notice, therefore, the plaintiff’s case could not be dismissed on this basis.

 

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2022 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2022 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.

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Pennsylvania Appellate Update 2025-2026

On August 21, 2026, Casey will serve as a panelist for the live webcast program, “Pennsylvania Appellate Update 2025-2026” presented by the Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Institute. The program is divided into three parts—Criminal, Civil, and Administrative. Casey will serve as a panelist for the Civil portion, along with Christina McKinley of Blank Rome, Ben Baer of Injury Law Partners, John Masslon of Keller Postman, Jonathan Bruno of Bruno Litigation LLC, and moderator, Ezza Ahmed of Buchanan Ingersoll.  Registration and more information: https://www.pbi.org/product/pennsylvania-appellate-update-2025-2026/

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