Summary Judgment Affirmed on Appeal in Medical Malpractice Case

Jacqueline E. Schneiders successfully defended a trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of a surgeon in Donnelly v. Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, A-3878-22 (App. Div. 2024). After oral argument, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal of all claims against her client while reversing the judgments granted in favor of the other defendants.

The case stems from the death of a woman who underwent abdominal surgery and later developed complications that led to her hospitalization. Plaintiff’s experts, Drs. Stephens and Reed, generally asserted that all surgeons breached the standard of care in a net opinion, even though the surgeons treated the decedent on different days and at different stages of her condition.

A careful review of the report and testimony of Dr. Stephens showed that the treatment provided by Dr. Salem was consistent with the standard of care asserted by Dr. Stephens. Schneiders argued that Dr. Stephen’s net opinion was not supported by the uncontradicted facts of record or his own opinions on the standard of care. Although Dr. Reed generally asserted that the surgeon deviated from the standard of care, Schneiders argued that he did not state how it caused her death many days later. The court agreed: “Absent from Dr. Reed’s report is an opinion that Dr. Salem’s care was a substantial cause in decedent’s death.” As neither expert sufficiently alleged that a deviation by Dr. Salem proximately caused her death, the appellate court affirmed the order granting summary judgment.

For questions or a copy of the opinion, please contact schneidersj@ggmfirm.com.