Anderson v. Rengachary
| Decision Date | 16 March 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. C7-98-1987.,C7-98-1987. |
| Citation | 608 N.W.2d 843 |
| Parties | Kathleen M. ANDERSON, Respondent, v. Dr. Setti RENGACHARY, petitioner, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
David Hutchinson, Kyle M. Thomas, Geraghty, O'Loughlin & Kenney, P.A., Saint Paul, for appellant.
Paul A. Sortland, Sortland Law Office, Minneapolis, for respondent.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
Appellant Setti Rengachary, M.D., appeals from the Minnesota Court of Appeals' reversal of the district court's order denying respondent Kathleen Anderson's request for reconsideration of the dismissal of her medical malpractice suit against appellant. Ms. Anderson served an affidavit of expert identification as required by Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4 (1998) and, after the 180-day statutory deadline expired, Dr. Rengachary moved to dismiss the suit. The district court concluded that Ms. Anderson had not submitted a sufficient affidavit of expert identification and pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 6 (1998) granted Dr. Rengachary's motion to dismiss. Ms. Anderson requested reconsideration but the district court declined to reconsider its order or grant her an extension to comply with the statutory requirements. The court of appeals reversed and remanded, directing the district court to allow Ms. Anderson 30 days to submit a supplemental affidavit. See Anderson v. Rengachary, 591 N.W.2d 511, 514 (Minn. App.1999). We reverse the court of appeals and affirm the district court's order.
Dr. Rengachary performed an anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion on Ms. Anderson on July 5, 1995. On July 3, 1997, Ms. Anderson commenced a lawsuit against Dr. Rengachary alleging that his negligence caused a severed vagus nerve and swelling of her esophagus and thyroid. On October 1, 1997, Ms. Anderson served the affidavit of expert review required by Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 3 (1998)1 and, on December 12, 1997, the affidavit of expert identification required by Minn. Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4. In the affidavit of expert identification, Ms. Anderson's anticipated expert witness, Richard S. Goodman, M.D., stated in part:
6. I agree there was a deviation from the standard of care provided to this patient which caused the patient to have postoperative dysphasia [sic] of undetermined etiology. Also, it appears, based upon the medical record, that there was significant trauma to the esophagus. The standard of care is that esophageal trauma should be avoided during surgery of this type.
7. I note in the records of Dr. Thomas C. Bagnoli, dated October 12, 1995, that he suggested that one of the possibilities for the dysphagia suffered by Kathleen Anderson is that, possibly during surgery, or afterwards, during the time she was in the surgical collar, that the plaintiff sustained an injury to the vagus nerve. If this supposition of Dr. Bagnoli was accurate, that the vagus nerve suffered injury during surgery, or in the resulting aftercare, this would also be a deviation from the standard of care as the surgeon should make certain that such trauma to the vagus nerve should not occur, either during or in aftercares [sic] following such surgery.
After the 180-day statutory deadline expired, Dr. Rengachary moved for dismissal with prejudice pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 6 (1998), arguing Ms. Anderson failed to provide a sufficient affidavit of expert identification. The district court granted his motion to dismiss with prejudice and explained its reasoning as follows:
Here, Plaintiff's expert states that the standard of care is that "esophageal trauma should be avoided during surgery" and "trauma to the vagus nerve should not occur, either during or in aftercare[s] following such surgery." He describes the acts or omissions that violate the standard as "esophageal trauma" and, based on the opinion of another doctor, operative or postoperative damage to the vagus nerve. He concludes that these violations "caused the patient to have postoperative dysphasia of undetermined etiology." The inclusion of this phrase "of undetermined etiology" is inconsistent with the construction of a chain of causation. It says that the cause of Plaintiff's alleged injuries is unknown. The statute requires a connection between the violation and the injury. The expert has not supplied that connection here.
Ms. Anderson then sent to the court a Rule 115.11 request to bring a motion for reconsideration, arguing that the affidavit was sufficient but also requesting a 30-day extension to supplement the affidavit. See Minn. Gen. R.P. 115.11. The district court denied this request.
Ms. Anderson appealed and the court of appeals reversed and remanded. See Anderson, 591 N.W.2d at 514. The court of appeals concluded that the district court abused its discretion in denying Ms. Anderson's request for reconsideration because the affidavit represented a "good faith effort to comply with the disclosure requirements." Id. at 513. In reaching this conclusion, the court considered that Ms. Anderson did not receive notice of the insufficiency of the affidavit prior to the expiration of the statutory 180-day deadline and that we had "directed district courts to consider less drastic alternatives to dismissal when the plaintiff has identified experts and given some meaningful disclosure of their testimony." Id. at 513-14 (citing Sorenson v. St. Paul Ramsey Med. Ctr., 457 N.W.2d 188, 193 (Minn. 1990)). The court of appeals reversed and remanded, ordering the district court to allow Ms. Anderson 30 days to submit a supplemental affidavit.2See id. at 514. Dr. Rengachary filed a petition for further review and we granted review of the court of appeals' opinion.
We will reverse a district court's dismissal of a suit pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 145.682 only if the district court abused its discretion. See Sorenson, 457 N.W.2d at 190. Examining the district court's order denying Ms. Anderson's request for reconsideration in light of this standard, we address the sufficiency of her affidavit of expert identification. We then consider her request for a 30-day extension to submit a supplemental affidavit.
In a medical malpractice case where "expert testimony is necessary to establish a prima facie case"3 the plaintiff must meet two requirements. Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 2 (1998). First, the plaintiff must serve with the complaint an affidavit of the plaintiff's attorney stating that the attorney has reviewed the case with an expert and that in the expert's opinion the defendant injured the plaintiff due to a deviation from the standard of care. See Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subds. 2, 3. If the statute of limitations prevents expert review prior to serving the complaint, the plaintiff must attach to the complaint an affidavit of his or her attorney explaining these circumstances and serve the affidavit of expert review within 90 days. See Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 3.
Second, the plaintiff must serve an affidavit identifying the experts who will testify at trial, the substance of their testimony, and a summary of the grounds for their opinions within 180 days of the commencement of the suit. See Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subds. 2, 4. Regarding this affidavit of expert identification the statute provides:
The affidavit * * * must be signed by each expert listed in the affidavit and by the plaintiff's attorney and state the identity of each person whom plaintiff expects to call as an expert witness at trial to testify with respect to the issues of malpractice or causation, the substance of the facts and opinions to which the expert is expected to testify, and a summary of the grounds for each opinion. Answers to interrogatories that state the information required by this subdivision satisfy the requirements of this subdivision if they are signed by the plaintiff's attorney and by each expert listed in the answers to interrogatories and served upon the defendant within 180 days after commencement of the suit against the defendant.
Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4(a) (1998). The parties may agree to extend the 180-day time limit or the court may extend it for good cause. See Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4(b) (1998). Otherwise, "[f]ailure to comply with [this requirement] results, upon motion, in mandatory dismissal with prejudice of each cause of action as to which expert testimony is necessary to establish a prima facie case." Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 6.
In Sorenson we gave notice to future plaintiffs of our interpretation of Minn. Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4. The defendants in Sorenson served with their answer interrogatories seeking an explanation of the basis for plaintiff's medical malpractice claim and the plaintiff subsequently served an affidavit of a physician who would testify as an expert witness at trial. 457 N.W.2d at 190. The defendants then brought a motion to compel plaintiff to answer the interrogatories. See id. The plaintiff provided a supplemental affidavit of this physician that same day and later served answers to the interrogatories upon the defendants. See id. Subsequent to the service of plaintiff's interrogatory answers, the defendants withdrew their pending motion to compel and, after the 180 days expired, brought a motion for summary judgment. See id. Due to these circumstances, we concluded that the defendants were estopped from seeking dismissal pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 145.682. See id. at 193. We explained, however, our expectations regarding affidavits of expert identification and the circumstances under which dismissal pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 145.682 is warranted:
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