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Huffman v. Inglefield12/28/2001
d an order striking plaintiff's subsequently designated expert. Plaintiff did not appeal this order. Thus, defendant met his initial burden by establishing that plaintiff could not provide a medical expert to support an essential element of his claim.
Plaintiff attempted to use only his own affidavit to forecast evidence showing medical malpractice. The affidavit asserted that defendant deviated from the required standard of care by failing to inform plaintiff of the potential side effects of prescribed medication. Plaintiff argues that this affidavit creates a genuine issue of material fact because there is a discrepancy between his position and defendant's. However, this Court has held that in medical malpractice cases the applicable "standard of care must be established by other practitioners in the particular field of practice . . . or by other expert witnesses equally familiar and competent to testify as to that limited field of practice." Heatherly v. Industrial Health Council, 130 N.C. App. 616, 625, 504 S.E.2d 102, 108 (1998) (citing Lowery v. Newton, 52 N.C. App. 234, 239, 278 S.E.2d 566, 571 (1981)). Plaintiff, a lay person and not a medical expert, simply cannot establish the applicable standard of care in this case on his own.
Accordingly, for the aforementioned reasons, the trial court properly granted defendant's motion for summary judgment.
Affirmed.
Judges GREENE and BRYANT concur.
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