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Teffeteller v. University of Minnesota6/13/2002
ndard of care required of PREF's doctors was or how they violated it. Furthermore, neither of Dr.áPerloff's affidavits detail a chain of causation between any alleged acts or omissions of PREF's doctors and Roddy's death. Accordingly, we hold that dismissal with prejudice as to the claim against appellant PREF was not an abuse of the district court's discretion and that the court of appeals erred by concluding that the initial affidavit was sufficient to satisfy the statute as to appellant PREF.
Reversed.
BLATZ, C.J., and PAGE, J. took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
CONCURRENCE & DISSENT
GILBERT, Justice (concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur with the majority's conclusion in regard to the dismissal of appellant PREF, but respectfully dissent as to the remainder of the opinion. This case involves serious allegations of medical malpractice that caused the death of a 14-year-old boy. The undisputed cause of his decreased respiratory state leading to his respiratory arrest was morphine toxicity. It is undisputed that an accurate and timely medical diagnosis of Thad Roddy's deteriorating medical condition was required, along with the administration of appropriate medication in this hospital setting. However, whether the treating physician erroneously diagnosed and treated Roddy in a timely fashion when time was of the essence is disputed. Under these facts, there is a genuine issue of fact as to the applicable standard of care, the violation of that standard, and the chain of causation between the violation of that standard and Roddy's death.
As the majority opinion points out, Minn. Stat. § 145.682 was adopted to eliminate nuisance medical malpractice suits. Stroud, 556 N.W.2d at 555. However, the majority fails to label this case as a nuisance suit. The obvious reason for this failure is that the facts of this case do not warrant such a label. First, in regard to the initial affidavit that an attorney must serve with the summons and complaint, appellants do not dispute nor does the majority opinion take issue with the sufficiency of that affidavit. The attorney affidavit requires a statement under oath that the facts of the case have been reviewed by the plaintiff's attorney with a medical expert whose qualifications provided a reasonable expectation that the expert's opinion could be admissible at trial and in the opinion of the expert the defendant's deviation from the applicable standard of care caused injury to the plaintiff. Minn. Stat. § 145.682, subd. 3. The respondent submitted an affidavit conforming to these requirements that was signed by an experienced attorney who has successfully practiced medical malpractice law for over two decades. The expert that this attorney consulted with has impeccable credentials and has served as the medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit of the University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital at Madison, Wisconsin from 1982 until at least 1998, when this litigation commenced. Additionally, he is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric critical care and has held numerous teaching positions and is a nationally renowned expert in both pediatric care and pediatric critical care. The facts of this case, coupled with the sworn affidavit of an attorney as an officer of the court, not only demonstrate that this case is not a nuisance case or frivolous in any sense, but in fact has substantial merit.
So why did the district court summarily dismiss this legitimate cause of action, with prejudice, on the merits before trial? The answer lies in a combination of errors in the district court's analysis and the standards used to adjudicate dispute
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