 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Broehm v. Rochester1/20/2005
oreseeable risk.
2. Construct a head restraint device that did not cause a wound injury or, alternatively, employ an alternative technique to immobilize the head.
3. Inspect skin integrity and the restraint device as though it were a dressing at regular intervals, no less often than once each 8 hour nursing shift or more often if medically indicated.
4. Seek appropriate specialty care to diagnose and treat the patient's forehead wound immediately upon discovery of the wound.
Wick received her baccalaureate degree in nursing in 1984 and earned a master's degree in 1995. She is a certified geriatric nurse practitioner and is currently employed at St. Mary's Duluth Clinic, principally in the nephrology department. As the lower courts concluded, Wick has neither the training nor the practical experience necessary to offer opinions regarding postoperative care following tracheal resection surgery in support of claims based on the first two asserted duties; and the expert disclosure does not indicate that Wick has sufficient practical experience to qualify her as an expert in support of a claim based on the asserted duty to seek appropriate specialty care. The dismissal of those claims was not an abuse of discretion.
Wick does, however, appear to have sufficient training and practical experience with respect to general nursing care duties and duties of a nurse practitioner sufficient to qualify her as an expert in support of a claim based on a nursing standard of care. Thus, while the claims of failure to obtain informed consent, failure to construct an appropriate head restraint, and failure to seek appropriate specialty care upon discovery of the wound were properly dismissed by the district court, we reverse the dismissal of the remaining nursing malpractice claim and remand for further proceedings.
II.
Broehm also argues that the district court abused its discretion in denying her motion to extend the 180-day expert-disclosure deadline. We review the denial of an extension of the disclosure deadline for an abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Lindberg, 579 N.W.2d at 578-79. A plaintiff is allowed to extend the expert-disclosure deadline past the 180-day statutory time limit "by order of the court for good cause." Minn. Stat. ยง 145.682, subd. 4(b) (2004). Broehm sought an extension to obtain opinions from physicians with expertise in plastic surgery and dermatology.
Broehm had copies of her medical records well in advance of commencing the medical malpractice action. She had taken depositions of both Dr. Pairolero and physician assistant Holland a full two months prior to the deadline. As grounds for an extension, Broehm asserted that she had expected Mayo to offer an opinion concerning the cause of the injury to her forehead and that she needed additional information related to the head restraint. In denying the extension, the district court noted that Mayo had no obligation to provide opinions on causation beyond those provided in discovery and that all obtainable information concerning the restraint had long since been available. In affirming, the court of appeals observed that as of the time of the hearing on the extension-request motion, Broehm "had been in possession of the relevant medical records for more than a year. The medical treatment that appellant alleges was negligently provided occurred two years before the date of the hearing." Broehm v. Mayo Clinic Rochester, No. C0-02-959, 2003 WL 951886, at *5 (Minn. App. Mar. 11, 2003). In that Broehm had sufficient information from which to obtain a qualified expert well before expiration of the 180-day deadline and otherwise failed to show good cause for an extens
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Minnesota Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|