Opinion
June 16, 1986
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Durante, J.).
Cross appeal dismissed, for failure to perfect the same in accordance with the rules of this court (22 NYCRR 670.02 [d], [f]).
Order affirmed insofar as appealed from.
The respondents-appellants are awarded one bill of costs.
While we do not agree with Special Term's conclusion that an amendment of the complaint in the malpractice action to assert a claim for wrongful death would circumvent the two-year Statute of Limitations (see, CPLR 203 [e]; EPTL 5-4.1; Caffaro v. Trayna, 35 N.Y.2d 245), we nonetheless affirm. A motion seeking leave to amend a personal injury complaint to assert a cause of action for wrongful death must be supported by competent medical proof of the causal connection between the alleged negligence and the death of the original plaintiff (see, Mahoney v. Sharma, 110 A.D.2d 627; Fiorentino v. Cobble Hill Nursing Home, 101 A.D.2d 825; Ortiz v. Bono, 101 A.D.2d 812). The affirmation of Dr. Lous Vorhaus, which simply notes that the decedent was diagnosed as having cancer of the colon and states that this illness was one of the causes of death, is clearly insufficient. Moreover, we note that it was nearly seven years after the decedent's death before the plaintiff sought leave to amend the complaint. Mangano, J.P., Gibbons, Brown and Kooper, JJ., concur.