Medical Malpractice Case Dismissed in the New Jersey Appellate Division.

The case involved a woman with significant cardiac problems who suffered cardiac arrest and death. Her estate alleged that our clients, a medical resident and an intern, improperly administered certain pharmaceuticals, leading to her death. The plaintiff originally named two physicians as experts, a cardiologist who was offered to testify to the standard of care, and a physician board certified in occupational medicine, medical toxicology and emergency medicine, who was initially named to give testimony on causation. Before deposition, the expert cardiologist withdrew, and the plaintiff did not obtain the services of another expert, choosing instead to attempt to proceed with the other expert providing both standard of care and causation testimony. The Appellate Division affirmed the decision of the trial court which dismissed the case, finding that because the expert did not devote the majority of his professional time in the year prior to the decedent’s death in a clinical practice that encompassed the medical condition or procedure at issue, he was not qualified under New Jersey law to offer standard of care testimony. As such, the dismissal of the complaint was affirmed.