Opinion ID: 1986013
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Establishment of a Prima Facie Case

Text: The Medical Center argues that the Lougheeds failed to adduce expert witness testimony of medical malpractice and, therefore, did not establish a prima facie case. Expert medical testimony is indispensable to assert a claim of medical malpractice. 18 Del.C. § 6853 states, in pertinent part: No liability shall be based upon asserted negligence unless expert medical testimony is presented as to the alleged deviation from the applicable standard of care in the specific circumstances of the case and as to the causation of the alleged personal injury... At trial, David L. Axon, M.D., testified that Mrs. Lougheed's shoulder injury and the accompanying pain resulted from the fall that occurred while she was a patient at the Medical Center. Patrice Bachmann, a nurse, testified, as an expert witness, that Nurse Sammons, a Medical Center employee, deviated from the applicable standard of care by assisting Mrs. Lougheed in a manner that allowed her to fall. The Medical Center argues that this testimony failed to establish a prima facie case, because Nurse Bachmann should not have been permitted to testify as an expert witness. In reviewing the Superior Court's ruling that Nurse Bachmann was qualified to testify as an expert witness, we review for abuse of discretion. Baldwin v. Benge, Del. Supr., 606 A.2d 64, 67 (1992).