Court Opinion

ID: 9739003
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:07:09.413042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:09.621272
License: Public Domain

*856SCHUMACHER, Judge
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
I join the majority’s analysis of the first issue. However, I write separately because I do not believe the trial court abused its discretion in concluding that appellants failed to provide information meeting the requirements of Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4 (1986).
Under Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4 plaintiffs in malpractice cases must provide
the substance of the facts and opinions to which the expert is expected to testify, and a summary of the grounds for each opinion.
The trial court found that appellants “failed to provide the requisite information with regard to the basis for [appellants’] expert opinion.” Only paragraphs 5 and 11 of the quoted affidavit attempt to provide a “summary of the grounds for each opinion” of appellants’ expert. However, they give neither respondents nor the court any information they did not have when the suit was filed.
Initially, paragraph 11 indicates that the grounds for appellants’ expert opinions are “[the expert’s] background, training and experience as a medical doctor * * *.” This information does not satisfy the statute because it gives no details for the basis of his opinions. To hold that the information required by Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 4 need only be specific enough to justify initiation of the discovery process is clearly contrary to the plain language of the statute.
Paragraph 11 indicates that the grounds for appellants’ expert opinion include “the medical records, death certificate and autopsy report referred to in the paragraph above.” Ignoring the fact that paragraph 10 does not refer to any medical documents, this reference clearly does not satisfy the statute’s requirements. Additionally, such a reference cannot support the experts’ opinions in a manner consistent with the statute’s language requiring a “summary.”
The grounds for the expert opinion must be articulated with specificity so that medical merits of the case may be intelligently evaluated.
Once the trial court concluded that the information submitted by appellants was insufficient under the statute, it had no choice but to dismiss the case with prejudice. See Minn.Stat. § 145.682, subd. 6. While I agree with the majority that dismissal with prejudice is an extremely harsh sanction, the legislature has declared that to be the appropriate sanction for failure to meet the prescribed requirements. The majority has lowered the standard for review of information required under Minn. Stat. § 145.682. This is contrary to the plain meaning of the statute and contrary to what I perceive as the purpose of the statute, namely: to make sure there is a valid malpractice claim before engaging in expensive and time consuming discovery and to eliminate nuisance suits.
The requirements of the statute will be substantially curtailed by our approval of overbroad and vague affidavits..