On August 15, 2012, the Indiana Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Curts v. Miller’s Merry Manor. For the first time, the Court of Appeals held that nurses could be qualified as an expert witness under Indiana Evidence Rule 702 and could offer an expert opinion as to whether an alleged breach caused an injury in certain cases.
In Curts, Dorothy Curts fell from her bed while staying at Miller’s Merry Manor (Miller’s”) nursing home and passed away approximately 24 hours later. Michael Curts brought suit claiming breach of contract, wrongful death, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Pursuant to the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, a medical review panel convened and determined the evidence did not support a conclusion that the nursing home failed to meet the appropriate standard of care and the conduct complained of was not a factor in the resultant damages. Miller’s moved for summary judgment on the basis of the panel’s expert opinion. In response, Curts designated the opinion of Teresa Weitkamp, R.N. The trial court granted summary judgment for Miller’s and Curts appealed.
In Nasser v. St. Vincent Hosp. & Health Servs., 926 N.E.2d 43, 51-52 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010), trans. denied, the Court of Appeals held that nurses could not be qualified as experts on medical causation under Rule 702. In a 2011 decision, the Court of Appeals noted that nurses, while able to serve on medical review panels, do not have the requisite expertise to provide opinions on medical causation while serving on a medical review panel. Doe Corp. v. Honore, 950 N.E.2d 722 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011). As a result, nurses serving on medical review panels cannot join in or offer any opinion as to whether any breach in the standard of care caused or contributed to any injuries suffered by the patient.
In a significant departure from both Honore and Nasser, the Curts Court held a nurse can be qualified as an expert on medical causation in specific cases where the medical issues are not “significantly” complex and the nurse has sufficient expertise to qualify as an expert witness under Rule 702. In Curts, the Court noted the specific issue was whether the injuries from Dorothy Curts’ fall caused her death twenty-four hours later. The Court was of the opinion that the issue was not “significantly” complex and Nurse Weitkamp could have offered an expert opinion if Curts’ counsel had properly qualified her as such. Therefore, under Curts, a party can qualify a nurse as an expert on standard or care and causation if the party can show the nurse regularly deals with similar matters, has acquired education and/or training specific to the patient and the patient’s needs, has expert knowledge of the governing federal regulations, and has sufficient expertise to comment on the manner and cause of the injury.
While many medical malpractice claims do involve complex medical decisions, some cases, especially in the long term care area, involve falls and injuries from those falls. This decision will allow parties to potentially utilize a single nurse expert to testify on both standard of care and causation.
Should you have any questions, please contact your regular Hall Render attorney.
