WPCZ # VUNa % 0(U<w@ 4Y m 0D| 0v 6 0J> 0T 0^ 0h: 0r 0| 0 0 1u U, 0dGU,U> BB)2DC[ AMU*-B D3v~$v 0@u AO 0D D/ B=HP LaserJet 4Si/4SiMX PS 600dpiPSCRIPT0 (hH  Z 6Times New Roman RegularX($-Bu Z$Arrus BT Roman EEeӀDD;p 3|x(#$  0  (-!2Vf$ !  Ӏ  0  2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23   ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)<  9p`(ModernP 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X<  9p`(Monaco<  9p`(&Times New Roman d% Line 7 d$$$$7Border 1dd-%C << G<  9p`(Arial # !  #d#"  ''   YYY FILED'X April17,1996CecilCrowson,Jr.'AppellateCourtClerk   !  #d#"       Ӏ    Rule10(CourtofAppeals).MemorandumOpinion.(b)TheCourt,withtheconcurrenceofalljudgesparticipatinginthecase,mayaffirm,reverseormodifytheactionsofthetrialcourtbymemorandumopinionwhenaformalopinionwouldhavenoprecedentialvalue.Whenacaseisdecidedbymemorandumopinionitshallbedesignated"MEMORANDUMOPINION,"shallnotbepublished,andshallnotbecitedorreliedonforanyreasoninasubsequentunrelatedcase.####'dxdPtPtHH(FG(HH(d'@Styl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Monaco   BA:Op Monaco  BA:Op Monaco ("$    -C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5($$   1  ' dxdP Pd ! . &!!Xd&#!!Xd#"  ݛ7 XXdd7    \RA'\    Ҝ@ INTHECOURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEE@ WESTERNSECTIONATJACKSON  ________________________________________________ PATRICKMcMATHAND   FROMTHECIRCUITCOURT JULIANNEMcMATH,     OFSHELBYCOUNTY ,         No.49236 PlaintiffsAppellants,   TheHonorableJamesM.Tharpe,       Judge Vs.       C.A.No.02A019501CV00010 DR.DAVIDSHARFMAN,    LawOfficeofDonOwens,       AndrewHumeOwensofMemphis DefendantAppellee,   ForAppellants       DavidM.CookandW.Timothy       Hayes,Jr.,ofMemphisٜL&(%;+'h|`  `Lߛ       ForAppellee@ VACATEDANDREMANDED ___________________________________________________________________________@ MEMORANDUMOPINION )   _________________________________________________________________________ CRAWFORD,J.   ThisisamedicalmalpracticecasedismissedbythetrialcourtprimarilyviatheoperationofT.C.A.2926116(a)(3),thethreeyearstatuteofreposeformedicalmalpracticeactions. OnAugust23,1988,plaintiffs,PatrickMcMathandJulianneMcMath,filedsuitinstatecourtagainstDr.DavidM.Sharfman,PrudentialHealthPlan,Inc.,andPrudentialInsuranceCompanyofAmerica,allegingmedicalmalpracticeandbreachoffiduciarydutydiscoveredbyplaintiffsonAugust24,1987.Afterthecasewasremovedtofederalcourt,itwassubsequentlydismissedwithoutprejudiceonFebruary25,1992.OnOctober12,1992,plaintiffsrefiledtheircaseagainstonlyDr.Sharfman.Therefilingwaswithinoneyearofthevoluntarydismissalinfederalcourt,butmorethanthreeyearsfromthedateoftheallegedmalpractice. DefendantfiledaMotiontoDismiss/MotionforSummaryJudgmentassertingthatplaintiffsactionwasbarredbyT.C.A.2926116(a)(3),thethreeyearstatuteofreposeformedicalmalpracticeactions.OnOctober24,1994,thetrialcourtenteredanordergrantingdefendantsMotiontoDismiss/MotionforSummaryJudgmentrelyingprimarilyon Brucev.Hamilton ,No.02A019301CV0008,1993WL541072(Tenn.App.W.S.Dec.30,1993), permissiontoappealdenied, May9,1994.Plaintiffshaveappealed,andthesoleissueonappealiswhetherthetrialcourterredingrantingsummaryjudgmentanddismissingplaintiffssuit. AlthoughtheSupremeCourtdeniedpermissiontoappealin Bruce ,theCourtgrantedpermissiontoappealinasubsequentCourtofAppealscasefromtheEasternSectionoftheCourt, Croninv.Howe ,andonSeptember5,1995,theSupremeCourtfileditsopinionin Cronin ,906S.W.2d910(Tenn.1995).Thedeterminativeissueinthecaseatbarispreciselythesameastheissuein Cronin :8 8 TheissueinthisappealiswhethertheTennesseeSavingsStatute[T.C.A.281105(a)(1980)and(Supp.1994)]operatestosaveamedicalmalpracticeactionwhichwasinitiallyfiledwithinthethreeyearstatuteofrepose,butwhichwasvoluntarilydismissedandrefiledbeyondthethreeyearstatuteofrepose.906S.W.2dat911. Inresolvingthisissue,theSupremeCourtstated:8 8 Accordingly,weconcludethatwhere,ashere,amedicalmalpracticeactionistimelyfiled,withinboththestatuteoflimitationsandthestatuteofrepose,aplaintiffwhovoluntarilynonsuitstheinitialactionmayrelyuponthesavingsstatuteandrefilewithinoneyearofthenonsuit,evenifthenonsuitandtherefilingoccurbeyondthethreeyearstatuteofrepose.906S.W.2dat914915. Croninv.Howe iscontrollingastothetimelinessofplaintiffssuit. Plaintiffsalsopresentthefollowingissueforourreview:8 8 3.Whetherthetrialcourterredindismissing,asamatteroflaw,thebreachoffiduciarydutycauseofactioninthecomplaint. Theonlyreferenceinplaintiffscomplaintregardingbreachoffiduciarydutyisthegeneralallegationthatplaintiffssuffereddamages duetothenegligence,breachoffiduciaryduty,andbreachofimpliedcontract,allcommittedbythedefendants.Neitherinthesummaryjudgmentmotion,norinthesupportingmemorandafiledtherewith,isthereanyargumentadvancedconcerningthedismissalofanallegedcauseofactionforbreachoffiduciaryduty.WenotefromthetranscriptofthehearingonthesummaryjudgmentmotionthatplaintiffsarguedthatDr.SharfmandidnotperformaCT(computerizedtomography)scanonMr.McMathbecausethecostofthetestwasnotcoveredbyDr.SharfmansemployersinsuranceplanthroughPrudentialInsuranceCompanyofAmerica.PlaintiffsassertedthatthecostofthetestwouldhavebeenborneentirelybyDr.Sharfmansemployer,andthattherefore,Dr.Sharfmanhadafinancial disincentivetoperformthetest.TheplaintiffsarguethatDr.Sharfmansfailuretoperformthetestbecauseofthecostofthetesttohisemployer,breachedDr.SharfmansfiduciarydutytoMr.McMath. DefendantassertsthatDr.Sharfmansaffidavitwhich,inessence,statesthathedidnotviolateanyfiduciarydutyconstitutestheonlyswornproofonthisissueandthereforeisconclusive.However,wehavereviewedthisrecordandfindnosuchaffidavit.Itappearsfromtherecordbeforeusthatwehavemerelyanargumentofdefendantscounselinsupportofthesummaryjudgmentmotion.Itiswellsettledthatargumentsofcounseldonotconstituteevidence. Perkinsv.Sadler ,826S.W.2d839(Tenn.App.1991).Counselwasessentiallyarguingthatplaintiffshadnoevidencetosupporttheirbreachoffiduciarydutyclaim,butthisargumentwasamereconclusoryassertion.Suchaconclusoryassertionisinsufficienttoestablishtheabsenceofagenuineissueofmaterialfact. Byrdv.Hall ,847S.W.2d208,215(Tenn.1993). Accordingly,theorderofthetrialcourtgrantingsummaryjudgmentisvacated,andthecaseisremandedtothetrialcourtforsuchfurtherproceedingsasarenecessary.Costsoftheappealareassessedagainstappellee.       _________________________________       W.FRANKCRAWFORD,       PRESIDINGJUDGE,W.S. CONCUR:_________________________________DAVIDR.FARMER,JUDGE _________________________________ HOLLYKIRBYLILLARD,JUDGE