Robert Morrow v. United States, 47 F.4th 700

In Nov. 2017 James Meyer had a chest x-ray showing a 4.9 cm mass in the left upper lung; by Oct. 2018 imaging showed growth to 13.9 cm and he was diagnosed with lung cancer; he died in Feb. 2019.
Plaintiffs (wife and estate executor) sued the United States under the FTCA for alleged medical negligence, filing the complaint on Jan. 22, 2021.
The government answered on Apr. 8, 2021; Iowa Code § 147.140 required plaintiffs to serve a certificate of merit within 60 days of the answer (deadline June 7, 2021).
Plaintiffs did not timely serve the certificate; they served an untimely notice of service on June 23, 2021; the government moved for summary judgment the same day seeking dismissal under § 147.140.
Plaintiffs then moved (June 25, 2021) for voluntary dismissal without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2) to preserve refiling; the government opposed and asked the court to deny the motion, grant summary judgment, and dismiss with prejudice.
The district court denied voluntary dismissal, granted summary judgment for the government, and dismissed the complaint with prejudice; the Eighth Circuit affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court abused its discretion in denying plaintiffs' Rule 41(a)(2) motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice	Meyer argued dismissal without prejudice serves justice, lets merits be decided, and would not unduly prejudice the government	Government argued plaintiffs sought dismissal to avoid adverse ruling and procedural defects, and dismissal with prejudice was proper	No abuse of discretion; district court properly denied voluntary dismissal and could dismiss with prejudice
Whether summary judgment was proper because plaintiffs failed to timely serve the § 147.140 certificate of merit and whether any substantial-compliance or implied good-cause relief applies	Meyer argued unverified medical records substantially complied with the certificate requirement and court should read a post-deadline good-cause exception	Government argued Iowa § 147.140 is substantive, enforceable in FTCA suits, noncompliance mandates dismissal with prejudice and no post-deadline good-cause relief exists	Affirmed: § 147.140 is substantive and enforceable; plaintiffs did not substantially comply; summary judgment and dismissal with prejudice are proper; court will not read a post-deadline good-cause exception

Crawford v. F. Hoffman-LaRoche Ltd., 267 F.3d 760 (8th Cir. 2001) (abuse-of-discretion standard for voluntary dismissal)
Graham v. Mentor Worldwide LLC, 998 F.3d 800 (8th Cir. 2021) (Rule 41(a)(2) dismissal-with-prejudice authority)
Jaramillo v. Burkhart, 59 F.3d 78 (8th Cir. 1995) (court-order requirement when defendant has answered)
Shanner v. United States, 998 F.3d 822 (8th Cir. 2021) (FTCA liability governed by state substantive law)
McHugh v. Smith, 966 N.W.2d 285 (Iowa Ct. App. 2021) (Iowa statute requires dismissal with prejudice for failure to substantially comply with certificate rule)
RSBI Aerospace, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., 49 F.3d 399 (8th Cir. 1995) (summary judgment standard)