Burns White is pleased to announce that attorney Lori Lewis, assisted by law clerk Alicia Nigro, successfully obtained a Dismissal on behalf of an urgent care provider in a medical negligence action involving a minor child.
The case arose after the child presented to the urgent care facility with a battery lodged in his nose. Recognizing the need for specialized treatment, the urgent care provider appropriately referred the child to a local hospital for imaging and removal of the foreign body.
The plaintiff sought to proceed under the “common knowledge” doctrine in an effort to avoid the statutory requirement of serving an Affidavit of Merit. Ms. Lewis successfully argued that the claims involved issues of professional medical judgment requiring expert testimony and did not fall within the narrow common knowledge exception.
The court agreed, finding that the plaintiff failed to establish the applicability of the common knowledge doctrine and dismissed all claims against Urgent Care with prejudice.