Collins v. Herring Chiropractic Ctr., LLC
Decision Date | 17 February 2017 |
Docket Number | 1151173 |
Citation | 237 So.3d 867 |
Parties | Betty COLLINS v. HERRING CHIROPRACTIC CENTER, LLC, and Ricardo Herring, D.C. |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
James M. Sims, Anniston, for appellant.
Robert E. Cooper and Katherine Rogers Brown, Birmingham, for appellees.
Betty Collins appeals from a summary judgment in favor of Ricardo Herring, D.C., and Herring Chiropractic Center, LLC, the defendants in her action seeking damages for alleged medical malpractice.
The evidence, viewed, as we are required to do, in a light most favorable to Collins as the nonmovant shows the following. Beginning in June 2012, Collins was being treated by Dr. Herring for injuries to her knee
, shoulder, and lower back. The treatment for her knee injury included applying a "cold pack"1 to her knee. Collins received treatment from Dr. Herring on several occasions during June 2012.
On July 9, 2012, Collins sought treatment from Dr. Herring for her knee injury
. During that appointment, Dr. Herring's assistant retrieved a cold pack from the refrigerator and placed it directly on Collins's knee. On Collins's previous appointments, the cold pack had been sitting out on a table when she arrived and was later placed on her knee. Collins noticed that the cold pack applied on July 9 was harder than the cold packs that had been applied to her knee during previous appointments. Collins's appointment that day was in the morning, and the chiropractic center had been closed the previous seven days. Collins felt heat when the cold pack was removed from her knee; during her previous treatments her knee felt cold when the cold pack was removed. A few hours later, Collins developed blisters on her knee where the cold pack had been. Subsequently, scars developed on Collins's knee where the cold pack had been.
On July 7, 2014, Collins sued the defendants alleging medical malpractice arising out of the application of the cold pack to her knee. The defendants timely filed an answer. Subsequently, the defendants filed a motion for a summary judgment. They supported their summary-judgment motion with an affidavit from Dr. Herring. In the affidavit, Dr. Herring stated in pertinent part:
In their summary-judgment motion, the defendants argued that Collins had not produced any evidence demonstrating that Dr. Herring's treatment fell below the applicable standard of care. The defendants argued that Collins failed to present testimony from a similarly situated expert witness because Collins had not designated an expert witness as required under the Alabama Medical Liability Act ("the AMLA"), § 6–5–480 et seq. and § 6–5–540 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, to testify that Dr. Herring breached his duty of care in treating Collins. They also argued that Dr. Herring's affidavit affirmed that he did not breach the required standard of care in treating Collins and that his treatment was not the cause of Collins's injuries.
In response to their motion, Collins argued that it was not necessary for her to present expert testimony in opposition to the summary-judgment motion because Collins's claims fell within an exception to the AMLA, i.e., Collins's claims could be readily understood by a layperson. Collins further argued that her deposition testimony provided substantial evidence of her claims and that it was up to a jury to determine whether the application of the cold pack on July 9, 2012, was the cause of her injuries.
On June 24, 2016, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of the defendants. Collins timely filed an appeal. We reverse and remand.
Hooper v. Columbus Reg'l Healthcare Sys., Inc., 956 So.2d 1135, 1139 (Ala. 2006).
Collins argues that the trial court erred in entering a summary judgment for the defendants on the basis that she had not designated an expert witness. Specifically, she contends that expert testimony is not required in this case to establish either the standard of care or the causal connection between the defendants' acts and her injuries.
Lyons v. Walker Reg'l Med. Ctr., 791 So.2d 937, 942 (Ala. 2000). It is well settled that there is an exception to the rule requiring expert testimony " ‘in a case where want of skill or lack of care is so apparent ... as to be understood by a layman, and requires only common knowledge and experience to understand it.’ " Tuscaloosa Orthopedic Appliance Co. v. Wyatt, 460 So.2d 156, 161 (Ala. 1984) (quoting Dimoff v. Maitre, 432 So.2d 1225, 1226–27 (Ala. 1983) ); see also Anderson v. Alabama Reference Labs., 778 So.2d 806 (Ala. 2000).
The following situations have been recognized as exceptions to the general rule that the plaintiff in a medical-malpractice action must proffer independent expert medical testimony:2
" ‘(1) where a foreign instrumentality is found in the plaintiff's body following surgery; 2) where the injury complained of is in no way connected to the condition for which the plaintiff sought treatment; 3) where the plaintiff employs a recognized standard or authoritative medical text or treatise to prove what is or is not proper practice; and 4) where the plaintiff is himself or herself a medical expert qualified to evaluate the doctor's allegedly negligent conduct.’ "
Allred v. Shirley, 598 So.2d 1347, 1350 (Ala. 1992) (quoting Holt v. Godsil, 447 So.2d 191, 192–93 (Ala. 1984) (citations omitted in Allred )); see also Anderson v. Alabama Reference Labs., supra.
In Ex parte HealthSouth Corp., 851 So.2d 33 (Ala. 2002), this Court explained that the list of exceptions in Allred to the general rule requiring expert testimony was illustrative and not exclusive. The Court went on to explain that the first two examples were related to those categories of cases in which the lack of skill is so apparent as to be understood by a layperson and required only common knowledge and experience to understand it. The Court noted that the third and fourth examples set out in the list of exceptions had nothing to do with evidence within the common knowledge of the jury, because those exceptions to the rule requiring the proffer of expert testimony are where an authoritative treatise is offered or the plaintiff is a medical expert qualified to evaluate the health-care provider's allegedly negligent conduct.
The HealthSouth Court went on to "reformulate" the exceptions to the general rule requiring expert testimony in medical-malpractice actions as follows:
...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Hannah v. . Naughton
...2d [806] at 811 [(Ala. 2000)], or is himself or herself a qualified medical expert." 851 So. 2d at 39.In Collins v. Herring Chiropractic Center, LLC, 237 So. 3d 867, 871 (Ala. 2017), this Court explained the reformulation of the exceptions as follows:"The Court's reformulation of categories......
-
McGill v. Szymela
...establish a breach of the standard of care, there must be evidence establishing that standard of care. See Collins v. Herring Chiropractic Ctr., LLC, 237 So. 3d 867, 870 (Ala. 2017). To establish the standard, "ordinarily, the plaintiff must offer expert medical testimony as to what is or w......
-
Fuqua v. United States
... ... (citing Levesque v. Regional Med. Ctr. Bd., 612 ... So.2d 445, 449 (Ala. 1993)); see also Pruitt v ... Id. at *4 (citing Collins v. Herring ... Chiropractic Center, LLC, 237 So.3d 867, 871 (Ala ... ...
-
Cook v. Corizon, LLC
...that standard of care, and (3) a proximate causal connection between the ... breach and the injury[.]" Collins v. Herring Chiropractic Ctr., LLC , 237 So. 3d 867, 870 (Ala. 2017) (internal quotes and citation omitted). The AMLA establishes the professional credentials necessary for an exper......