Malpractice: Expert's Affidavit Said Nothing About The Nurses, Hospital Let Out Of The Case
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
November 1997
Quick Summary: The required expert witness’s affidavit was silent as to what, if anything, the hospital’s nurses did wrong or failed to do for the patient, so the court dismissed the hospital from the lawsuit.
Many states now will not allow a healthcare malpractice lawsuit to be filed in court without an expert witness’s affidavit. In general, it is necessary for the affidavit to contain a statement of the expert’s professional qualifications to render an opinion, the expert’s opinion that professional malpractice or negligence has occurred, and a summation of the facts upon which the expert’s opinion is based.
In a recent case from the Court of Appeals of Georgia, the formal civil complaint filed in court by the patient’s attorneys alleged in general terms that the care given at the hospital was not adequate. Although the accompanying expert witness affidavit met the baseline legal requirements to keep the physicians in the case as defendants, the court had to dismiss the hospital. Goins vs. Tucker, 489 S.E. 2d 857 (Ga. App., 1997).