Opinion ID: 1997101
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Proof of Standard Required

Text: The appellate standard of review, following the grant of a motion for summary judgment, requires an examination of the record to determine whether under all of the circumstances, viewing the facts in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, the moving party has established that there are no material issues of fact and that judgment should be entered on the motion as a matter of law. Benge v. Davis, 553 A.2d at 1182 (citing Cole v. Delaware League for Planned Parenthood, Inc., Del.Supr., 530 A.2d 1119, 1124 (1987)). The facts in the record are not in dispute. However, the attorneys for Ogden and Dr. Gallagher disagree sharply about the legal implications which arise from those undisputed facts. Ogden's attorney argues that the Superior Court erred as a matter of law in granting Dr. Gallagher's motion for summary judgment in the absence of any expert medical testimony to support Dr. Gallagher's position. Dr. Gallagher's attorney acknowledges that under some circumstances expert testimony might be needed to determine whether a certain act or omission was a part of a continuum of treatment. Moreover, Dr. Gallagher's attorney also acknowledges that a patient might make a case for the proposition that the failure to forward records to another doctor is in itself an act of medical negligence. Nevertheless, Dr. Gallagher's attorney contends that Dr. Gallagher was not required to present expert testimony to support his motion because, in spite of the fact that the medical records clearly did concern the condition for which Dr. Gallagher had previously treated Ogden, the act (omission) of forwarding (not forwarding) those records was not part of the negligent continuum of treatment. In this case, the merits of Dr. Gallagher's motion for summary judgment, albeit based upon the statute of limitations, were completely dependent upon his own avowed compliance with the applicable standard of care and his attorney's legal arguments to that effect in the Superior Court. This Court has held that in a medical malpractice action: proper support for a defendant's motion requires proof that the defendant conformed to the requisite standards of care under the circumstances at issue. This, in turn, requires proof [from an expert witness] of the relevant medical standards followed by physicians in good standing in the community under like circumstances and a showing that the defendant's conduct was in conformity with those standards. Baylis v. Wilmington Medical Center, Inc., Del.Supr., 477 A.2d 1051, 1057 (1984) (citing Coleman v. Garrison, Del.Supr., 349 A.2d 8, 10 (1975); Hurtt v. Goleburn, Del.Supr., 330 A.2d 134, 135 (1974)). Accordingly, it was necessary for Dr. Gallagher to support his motion for summary judgment with expert medical testimony showing the relevant medical standards followed by physicians in good standing in the community under like circumstances, and that his conduct was in conformity with these standards. See Baylis v. Wilmington Medical Center, Inc., 477 A.2d at 1057. In the absence of such proof, the Superior Court erred as a matter of law in granting Dr. Gallagher's motion for summary judgment. [8] Id.