Opinion
June 4, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Richmond County (J. Leone, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The Supreme Court properly denied the plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend the complaint. Since the plaintiffs failed to submit an affidavit of merit by a physician in support of their motion, and their "attorney's certificate of merit (see, CPLR 3012-a) * * * [was] insufficient to demonstrate a meritorious claim" (Sober v. Kalina, 208 A.D.2d 1140, 1141) that branch of their motion which sought leave to add a cause of action to recover damages for medical malpractice was properly denied. Moreover, the Supreme Court properly denied that branch of the plaintiffs' motion which was to add a cause of action alleging deceptive business practices under General Business Law § 349 Gen. Bus., as this statute does not apply to providers of medical services (see, Karlin v. IVF Am., 239 A.D.2d 560). Finally, the original complaint gave the defendant no notice that the plaintiffs would assert a cause of action to recover damages for loss of services. Therefore, that cause of action is time-barred (see, Clausell v. Ullman, 141 A.D.2d 690).
Mangano, P. J., Miller, Pizzuto and Krausman, JJ., concur.