Opinion ID: 885261
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Ehrlich

Text: ¶ 23 We conclude that the District Court erroneously granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Ehrlich. When viewed in a light most favorable to Butler, Dr. Blaylock's expert medical testimony raises genuine issues of material fact with regard to Dr. Ehrlich's duty of care in performing the epidural injection, a breach of that duty, and causation. On the standard of care, Dr. Blaylock testified that the standard skin preparation for an epidural or spinal tap procedure takes five minutes. Regarding breach, Dr. Blaylock testified that it was Dr. Ehrlich's testimony that he spent less than [a] minute in prepping [Butler's] back. Dr. Ehrlich did in fact testify that [i]t might take a minute or two to complete the skin preparation. Finally, as to the issue of causation, Dr. Blaylock testified that he was confident that P. acnes was the cause of Butler's diskitis and osteomyelitis. He based this opinion on the fact that Dr. Whitney isolated P. acnes from Butler's biopsy and Butler's infection resolved after Butler took antibiotics to which P. acnes has a known sensitivity. Dr. Blaylock testified that P. acnes is a known skin contaminant which can be removed given a reasonable skin preparation. Dr. Blaylock further testified that given the location of the injection and Dr. Ehrlich's skin preparation, it's more probable than not that his injection was the more likely cause of this seeding. Consequently, we reverse the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Dr. Ehrlich.