Kuiper v. Tarnabine
| Docket Number: | 2008-IA-00602-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 10-29-2009 Opinion Author: Dickinson, J. Holding: Reversed and rendered |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Medical malpractice - Expert testimony - M.R.C.P. 56© - Notice of hearing Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Randolph, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. Concurs in Result Only: Graves, P.J. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - MEDICAL MALPRACTICE |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-20-2008 Appealed from: WARREN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: Isadore Patrick Disposition: The trial court denied the defendants' summary judgment motion. Case Number: 02,299-CI |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | HENDRICK K. KUIPER a/k/a HENDRICK K.
KUIPER AND RIVER REGION MEDICAL
CORPORATION d/b/a PARKVIEW REGIONAL
MEDICAL CENTER d/b/a RIVER REGION
MEDICAL CENTER d/b/a RIVER REGION
HEALTH SYSTEM |
R. E. PARKER, JR., CLIFFORD C. WHITNEY, III |
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| Appellee: | JOSEPH TARNABINE AND MARGARET TINA BRANAN | MARCIE TANNER SOUTHERLAND | ||
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| Topic: | Medical malpractice - Expert testimony - M.R.C.P. 56© - Notice of hearing |
| Summary of the Facts: | The wrongful-death beneficiaries of Martha Tarnabine filed suit on December 31, 2001, against Dr. Hendrick Kuiper, River Region Medical Foundation D/B/A River Medical Center, and John Does 1 through 5, alleging medical malpractice. The caption of the complaint named – “River Region Medical Corporation/Medical Foundation.” The summons contained a third name, “River Region Health Systems/Medical Foundation D/B/A River Region Center.” The corporate names of the defendants are “River Region Medical Corporation,” which managed the hospital, and “River Region Medical Foundation,” which, according to the appellants, is a nonprofit charitable foundation having no ownership interest or management role in the hospital. The River Region defendants filed via special appearance a motion to dismiss based on defective process and service of process. Kuiper and the River Region defendants later filed a motion for summary judgment. The judge denied both motions. The Supreme Court granted an interlocutory appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Summary judgment under M.R.C.P. 56(c) is mandated where the respondent has failed to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. In a medical-malpractice action, expert testimony is generally required to survive summary judgment. The defendants argue that summary judgment in their favor was required in this case because the Tarnabines failed to provide any expert evidence, whether by affidavit or otherwise. The Tarnabines wholly fail to address the defendants’ argument regarding a lack of expert testimony. Specifically, the Tarnabines argue that Rule 56(c) requires that notice of a hearing on a motion for summary judgment be served ten days before that hearing, and because the notice of the hearing omitted Kuiper’s name, the Tarnabines had no notice that the motion would be heard. The Tarnabines are procedurally barred from raising the issue of lack of notice because they failed to raise it in the trial court. In addition, they misread Rule 56(c) which requires that “[t]he motion shall be served at least ten days before the time fixed for the hearing.” The Tarnabines clearly were on notice that they would be required to defend River Region’s motion for summary judgment, and they failed to do so. Because the Tarnabines failed to provide any evidence, expert or otherwise, in response to the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, it was error for the trial court to deny it. |
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