Camacho v. Smithson CA4/1

Filed 8/12/22 Camacho v. Smithson CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

ROSALIE CAMACHO et al., D078434

Plaintiffs and Appellants,

v. (Super. Ct. No. 37-2018- 00041855-CU-MM-NC) JAMES SMITHSON et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Timothy Casserly, Judge. Affirmed. Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire, Kevin F. Quinn; Singleton Schreiber, Benjamin I. Siminou, Alicia M. Zimmerman, and J. Domenic Martini, for Plaintiffs and Appellants. Cole Pedroza, Kenneth R. Pedroza, Alysia B. Carroll; Peabody & Buccini, Thomas M. Peabody, and Natalie J. Buccini, for Defendant and Respondent Scott M. Boles. INTRODUCTION Ramon Camacho died from a ruptured aortic dissection four days after he was released from Sharp Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Surviving family members (collectively, Plaintiffs) sued the hospital, medical group, the emergency room doctor, and Does 1 through 50 for medical negligence and wrongful death. The parties stipulated at a case management conference to dismiss the Doe defendants. Less than a month later, Sharp Memorial Hospital (Sharp) notified Plaintiffs its radiologist identified aortic dilation on Camacho’s CT scan. Shortly thereafter, Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the complaint to add Dr. Scott M. Boles, the radiologist who reviewed Camacho’s CT scan while he was in the emergency department. Boles filed a motion for summary judgment, contending he lacked liability, the statute of limitations barred the action, and the relation-back doctrine did not apply because he was not substituted in for a Doe defendant, as required by Code of Civil

Procedure1 section 474. The court concluded there were material facts in dispute regarding liability, but it granted the motion and entered judgment in Boles’s favor because it concluded the procedural requirements of section 474 had not been met, and the statute of limitations barred the action. Plaintiffs appeal, arguing they met the procedural requirements of section 474 because they were “genuinely ignorant” of Boles’s identity. (See McOwen v. Grossman (2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 937, 942-945; General Motors Corp. v. Superior Court (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 580, 593-596.) They also contend the court abused its