Court holds Notice of Intent to Sue given to Physician Assistant's employer is not adequate.

Patrick Griesbach's parents sued Robert R. Ross, P.A.-C., a physician's assistant and employee of Walled  Lake Medical Center.  Patrick suffered permanent damage to the head of his femur and his hip joint after Ross allegedly misdiagnosed and mis-treated an infection, which Ross originally diagnosed as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. 

The family sent a statutory notice of intent to sue to the employer and Ross's supervising physician, Dr. Frank L. Fenton, D.O., however, their lawyers did not send a separate notice to P.A. Ross. After waiting the statutory six-month time period, the family sued the supervising doctor and the Clinic, however, they did not originally sue the P.A.   The doctor and clinic filed a "third party fault" statement blaming the P.A. (their employee), and they were dismissed from the action.

In response to the "non party at fault" claim by the supervising doctor and clinic, the family sued the P.A., however, by this time the two year statute of limitations had run (the limitation period for malpractice is two-years for juveniles if they are 8 years old or older).  On this basis, the Court of Appeals, Kirsten Frank Kelly, Richard Bandstra and a third judge, dismissed the claim against the P.A.  They apparently consider this a "just" outcome.