Tiffany Shockley, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Terry Street v. Mental Health Cooperative, Inc., 2013 Tenn. App. LEXIS 726

Shockley, as personal representative of Terry Street, filed a medical malpractice and wrongful death action arising from Street's death at the CSU in Nashville in Feb–March 2011.
Pre-suit health care liability notice under Tenn. Code Ann. §29-26-121(a) was sent to Mental Health Cooperative Foundation, Inc. (Foundation), not to Mental Health Cooperative, Inc. (Cooperative).
Foundation did not provide care to Street and was dissolved on June 30, 2012; Cooperative was the proper defendant and provided care.
The trial court dismissed based on Myers v. AMISUB (SFH), Inc. for failure to strictly comply with §29-26-121(a)(1) due to the misnomer in the notice.
Shockley moved to amend to substitute Cooperative for Foundation; the court allowed amendment but ultimately dismissed, citing lack of strict compliance and lack of extraordinary cause.
Appellant argues Rule 15.03 could cure the misnomer; the court held pre-suit notice is not a pleading and Rule 15.03 cannot cure pre-suit notice defects; action affirmed and remanded.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether pre-suit notice complied with §29-26-121(a)(1) despite the misnomer	Shockley maintained notice to Foundation sufficed due to information provided	Cooperative, not Foundation, was the proper defendant; notice to Foundation failed to comply	No; strict compliance required; misnomer invalidates notice; dismissal affirmed

Myers v. AMISUB (SFH), Inc., 382 S.W.3d 300 (Tenn. 2012) (mandatory nature of pre-suit notice; substantial compliance not enough)
Estate of French v. Stratford House, 333 S.W.3d 546 (Tenn. 2011) (statutory interpretation; give plain meaning to text)
Glassman, Edwards, Wyatt, Wade v. 404 S.W.3d 464, 404 S.W.3d 464 (Tenn. 2013) (interpretation of plain statutory language; pre-suit notice to named defendant)