Court Opinion

ID: 9880716
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-28 15:07:29.709458+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:57:20.569918
License: Public Domain

STATE OF LOUISIANA

              COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

DEBRA WICKER,            INDIVIDUALLY                                                    NO.        2023 CW      0291
AND ON       BEHALF OF HER
DECEASED SON,            LADARIUS
WICKER

VERSUS

FRESENIUS MEDICAL               CARE                                              SEPTEMBER 27,                 2023
CAPITAL CITY,            LLC    D/B/A
FRESENIUS       KIDNEY         CARE
ASCENSION,         ABIGAIL NOBLES,
RN AND       TRINETTE      GEORGE          PCT

                                                                                               tt
In Re:          Fresenius             Medical            Care           Capital             City,         LLC       D/B/A
                Fresenius            Kidney        Care          Ascension,             Abigail          Nobles,       RN,
                and       Trinette           George,             PCT,       applying           for        supervisory
                writs,          23rd         Judicial              District              Court,           Parish        of
                Ascension,            No.    133397.

BEFORE:         GUIDRY,         C.J., McCLENDON AND WELCH,                              JJ.

       WRIT     GRANTED.             The    district             court's March                16,      2023    judgment
denying       the    motion          for    summary          judgment         filed          by     the    Defendants
is    hereby       reversed.           When        the      burden          shifted          to     the    Plaintiff,
the    substantive          law,      under        the       facts      of    this          case,        required      her
to    do   more     than       simply       identify an             expert,            but     further         required
her     to    produce           expert           testimony             to    establish              that       she     had
factual       support          to     prove       an        essential             element           of    her    claim;
namely,        the        applicable              standard             of     care           and         whether       the
Defendants          breached          that        standard.                 See    Jones          v.     Baton      Rouge
Gen.    Med.    Ctr.-Bluebonnet,                  2020-1250 ( La.                 App.        1st Cir.         6/4/21),
327    So.3d       512,     516;       McGrew          v.    Waguespack,                2015-1891 (           La.     App.
1st    Cir.    6/3/16),          2016       WL    3132149,             at * 4-5,            writ       denied,       2016-
1560 ( La.      11/18/16),            210 So.3d 286.

        As    the       Plaintiff           failed          to    produce          any       expert        testimony,
she    failed        to    establish             the        existence             of    a     genuine         issue     of
material        fact       or        that        the        Defendants             are        not        entitled       to
judgment       as    a    matter       of    law.            Accordingly,               we     hereby         grant    the
motion       for    summary          judgment          filed       by       the        Defendants,            Fresenius
Medical       Care       Capital City d/b/a                  Fresenius             Kidney Care Ascension,
Abigail       Nobles,          RN,     and       Trinette          George,             PCT,       to     dismiss       the
claims       asserted by the                Plaintiff,            Debra Wicker,                individually and
on    behalf       of     her    deceased          son,          Ladarius          Wicker,             against       these
defendants,         with prejudice.

                                                                 JMG
                                                                 PMc
                                                                 JEW

COURT      OF APPEAL,          FIRST CIRCUIT

       DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
              FOR THE      COURT