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Hayward v. Jack's Pharmacy Incorporated6/15/2005
2005 Opinion No. 69
Order granting Respondent's motions for summary judgment is vacated and the case is remanded.
Appellant Alfred Hayward appeals the district court's order of summary judgment, in which the court ruled that his experts did not establish the requisite standards of care to proceed with his professional malpractice claims against his deceased father's physician and pharmacists. We vacate the order and remand the case for further proceedings.
I. BACKGROUND
The background facts are taken from the decision produced from these parties' previous visit to this Court, Hayward v. Valley Vista Care Corp., 136 Idaho 342, 33 P.3d 816 (2001), and they are as follows. Eighty-five-year-old Delbert Hayward (Delbert) had been living in Valley Vista Care Center (Valley Vista), a nursing home facility in St. Maries, Idaho, for nearly a year when he died on February 16, 1995. Prior to taking residence at Valley Vista, Delbert lived at home with the assistance of home health care providers. In order to receive home health care services, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare required Delbert to submit to periodic medical evaluations. Delbert was admitted to the Kootenai Medical Center on February 22, 1994 for one such evaluation. He was released to a personal care home in Hayden Lake on March 4, 1994. When he refused to eat and expressed a desire to return home, he was again admitted to Kootenai Medical Center on March 10, 1994. This time he was discharged to Valley Vista, where he lived until his death.
Alfred Hayward (Hayward), Delbert's son and the personal representative of his estate, sued Valley Vista, Jack's Pharmacy (which had filled prescriptions for Delbert), and Dr. W. Dyce Thurston, Valley Vista's medical director. Hayward claimed false imprisonment and breach of contract, and later moved to amend his complaint to add a claim for wrongful death stemming from allegedly negligent injection of the drug Haldol. The district court refused to allow Hayward to amend his complaint and granted Valley Vista's motion for summary judgment on Hayward's breach of contract claims. On appeal, we affirmed the district court's order regarding the breach of contract claims but reversed the district court's order refusing to allow Hayward to amend his complaint.
After our decision, Hayward filed a third amended complaint alleging that Delbert's death resulted from the negligence of Valley Vista, Dr. Thurston, and Jack's Pharmacy (including pharmacists Jack Botts and Chad Brown). All of the defendants moved for summary judgment. The district court denied Valley Vista's motion. Dr. Thurston's estate was partially successful. The court ruled that the claim against Dr. Thurston, in his capacity as Delbert's physician, must be dismissed since Hayward presented no expert testimony about the standard of care of physicians in St. Maries. However, the court allowed Hayward to proceed against Dr. Thurston's estate in the doctor's capacity as Valley Vista's medical director. It also granted Jack's Pharmacy's motion, finding that Hayward's pharmacy expert did not testify to the standard of care for dispensing (as opposed to in-house or consulting) pharmacies in St. Maries. The court also ruled that Hayward's pharmacy expert did not adequately familiarize himself with the local standard of care. Hayward filed a motion to reconsider and more information was submitted to the court. The court denied the motion and this appeal timely followed.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
The claims at issue in this appeal were disposed of via summary judgment. When we consider appeals of orders on such motions, our standard of review is the same as that of
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