Plaintiff’s allegation that the examination table provided during a doctor’s appointment was unsafe fell under the Health Care Liability Act (HCLA) and was thus subject to dismissal due to plaintiff’s failure to provide pre-suit notice. In Johnson v. Knoxville HMA Cardiology PPM, LLC, No. E2019-00818-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 24,…
Where an HCLA plaintiff sought to add a nurse practitioner’s supervising doctor and employer more than three years after the negligent act occurred, and plaintiff could not show that the new defendants were “aware of the wrong,” plaintiff could not prove the fraudulent concealment exception to the HCLA statute of…
Data has been released that shows the number of Tennessee medical malpractice (now called health care liability actions) filed and disposed of for the year ending June 30, 2019. A total of 422 claims were filed in our state courts in FY 2019, about the same as the previous year…
Where the trial court granted summary judgment on two grounds in a Tennessee medical malpractice case, but plaintiff only raised one of the grounds in her appeal, summary judgment was affirmed. In Lovelace v. Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, No. W2019-00453-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 16, 2020), plaintiff filed an HCLA suit…
Where a plaintiff’s expert testimony in an HCLA (formerly known as medical malpractice) case was deemed to be “ambiguous and inconclusive” regarding causation, summary judgment for defendant was affirmed. In Bridges v. Lancaster, No. M2019-00352-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 27, 2019), plaintiff had surgery performed by defendant doctor to put…
Where a nursing home patient’s daughter executed the admission paperwork and arbitration agreement, but the power of attorney the patient had previously executed in favor of her daughter specifically excluded the power to make health care decisions, the arbitration agreement was not enforceable. In Jones v. Allenbrooke Nursing and Rehabilitation…
An order awarding sanctions to defendants after plaintiffs sent a letter to healthcare providers allegedly interfering with ex parte interviews between defense counsel and the deceased’s patients former healthcare providers was not appealable as a final order. In Ibsen v. Summit View of Farragut, LLC, No. E2018-01249-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App.…
Where plaintiff only named one provider as a defendant in an HCLA case, but sent pre-suit notice to forty healthcare providers, a HIPAA-compliant medical authorization was required to be sent with her pre-suit notice. Further, a HIPAA form that left blank the section stating who could disclose records to defendant…
In a Tennessee HCLA case, the statutorily required certificate of faith must be a separate document and cannot simply be contained within the complaint. In Dotson v. State, No. E2019-00325-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 3, 2019), plaintiff filed a healthcare liability case against the state based on the alleged negligence…
Where an HCLA plaintiff was aware of injuries suffered by a decedent and had been told by a nurse that she should look into the decedent’s care at the hospital, the statute of limitations began running well before an expert reviewed the decedent’s medical files and opined that the injury…