Informed Consent Expert Testimony Not Limited to Risks that Actually...
A recent informed consent case provided the Supreme Court with the opportunity to analyze what risks a plaintiffs’ expert should be allowed to testify about at trial. In White v. Beeks, No....
View ArticleTennessee Certificate of Good Faith Mandate Does Not Require Disclosure of...
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently issued an opinion reversing several poorly decided lower court cases regarding the failure to disclose zero prior violations on a Healthcare Liability Act (HCLA)...
View ArticleLawyer Who Cheated Sanctioned Almost $1,000,000
The ABA’s Litigation News has an interesting story on a defense lawyer in a medical malpractice case who was found to have knowingly violated an order on a motion in limine and sanctioned almost...
View ArticleTennessee Medical Malpractice Decision on Reversed – Notice Issue
In Hughes v. Henry Co. Med. Center, No. W2014-01973-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 9, 2015), plaintiffs filed a health care liability action against defendants Henry County Medical Center (“HCMC”) and...
View ArticlePre-Suit Notice Sent Via FedEx Substantially Complied with HCLA
In Arden v. Kozawa, No. E2013-01598-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. June 30, 2015), the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a plaintiff in a medical malpractice ( now known as a “health care liability” )...
View ArticleNot Required to Disclose Zero Prior Violations on Certificate of Good Faith
In Kerr v. Thompson, No. W2014-00628-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 9, 2015), the Court of Appeals recently followed the Tennessee Supreme Court’s lead and held that a certificate of good faith (one...
View ArticleOrdinary Negligence vs. Health Care Liability; Relying on the 120-Day Statute...
A recent Tennessee Court of Appeals case dealt with the distinction between health care liability cases and claims of ordinary negligence. In Coggins v. Holston Valley Medical Center, No....
View ArticleNon-Suit Allowed to Cure Pre-Suit Notice Deficiencies
In Phillips v. Casey, No. E2014-01563-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 21, 2015) plaintiff’s late husband was a patient of defendant doctor. Sometime in 2011 or 2012, defendant diagnosed husband with...
View ArticleYet Another Nursing Home Arbitration Case
Add Bockelman v. GGNSC Gallatin Brandywood LLC, No. M2014-02371-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 18, 2015), to the long list of cases in which a Tennessee court affirmed an order upholding the validity...
View ArticleStatute Trumps Court Decision –“Ordinary” Negligence Claims Essentially Gone...
The Tennessee Supreme Court just issued an important decision regarding how to decide whether a claim falls under the Health Care Liability Act (HCLA) or ordinary negligence. In Ellithorpe v. Weismark,...
View ArticleMedical Malpractice Plaintiff Burned by Pre-2011 Notice Law
Several cases have now held that the 2011 amendments to the Health Care Liability Act (HCLA), which added language referring to governmental entities, allow plaintiffs bringing an HCLA claim under the...
View Article“Health Care Liability Claim” Includes Dropping Patient While Putting Her in Car
In early October, the Tennessee Supreme Court decided in Ellithorpe v. Weismark, 2015 WL 5853873 (Tenn. Oct. 8, 2015) that the statutory definition of “health care liability act” contained in the 2011...
View ArticleHIPAA-Compliant Authorization Still Required where Defendant is only Health...
The HIPAA release required by the Health Care Liability Act and the standards for HIPAA compliance continue to be a litigated issues in this evolving area of Tennessee law. In Bray v. Khuri, No....
View ArticleExpert Rejected. Motion to Continue Rejected. Case Dismissed.
In a case that could have only arisen in Shelby County, Weatherspoon v. Minard, No. W2015-01099-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 14, 2015), the Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s decision to...
View ArticleHCLA Claim Dismissed Where One of Eight Providers was Named on HIPAA Form
A continued problem for HCLA plaintiffs seems to be complying with the requirement to provide a HIPAA authorization with their pre-suit notice. In Dolman v. Donovan, No. W2015-00392-COA-R3-CV (Tenn....
View Article1% of Doctors = 32% of Malpractice Claims
Want to protect patients and reduce the cost of medical malpractice insurance? Identify and insist on retraining for the 1% of doctors who account for 32% of medical malpractice claims.
View ArticleData on Medical Malpractice Claims Against Anesthesiologists
The following is taken from an article in Clinical Advisor: A new study has revealed mostly good news for anesthesiologists – since 2005, anesthesia-related medical malpractice claims have decreased...
View ArticleExpert Not Needed in Wobbly Stool Case
In late 2015, the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the nuanced approach previously used to distinguish ordinary negligence from medical malpractice. In Ellithorpe v. Weismark, No....
View ArticleHCLA Statute of Limitations Issue A Jury Question
A recent appeal in a claim filed under the Health Care Liability Act (HCLA) turned on when the statute of limitations began to run and whether a doctor was an employee under the Governmental Tort...
View ArticleFiling Notice of Claim Triggers Waiver Provision
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that giving the State formal notice of a medical negligence (now “health care liability”) claim against an employee waives the right, if any, to assert that...
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