DocketNumber: No. 536439
Citation Numbers: 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 10156, 18 Conn. L. Rptr. 288
Judges: HENDEL, J.
Filed Date: 11/27/1996
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
The plaintiff has filed a one count amended complaint against the defendant in which she makes the following allegations. The plaintiff was admitted to the defendant's hospital and was injured while being transported on a gurney from the emergency room to her room. The defendant's agents or employees caused the gurney to strike a wall, causing injuries to the plaintiff. The employees or agents of the defendant were negligent in that they operated the gurney at a higher rate of speed having regard to the width and use of the hospital hallways, failed to maintain a reasonable distance between the wall and the patient during transport and failed to keep the gurney under control.
The defendant has moved to strike the complaint on the ground that it is legally insufficient for failure to file a good faith certificate under General Statutes §
(a) No civil action shall be filed to recover damages resulting from personal injury . . . in which it is alleged that such injury . . . resulted from the negligence of a health care provider, unless the attorney or party filing the action has made a reasonable inquiry as permitted by the CT Page 10157 circumstances to determine that there are grounds for a good faith belief that there has been negligence in the care or treatment of the claimant. . . . For purposes of this section, such good faith may be shown to exist if the claimant or his attorney has received a written opinion . . . of a similar health care provider . . . that there appears to be evidence of medical negligence.
The defendant argues that, under the express terms of §
The defendant claims that the plaintiff's negligence claim arises out of the conduct of the defendant in rendering medical care. Accordingly, the defendant contends that this is an action for medical malpractice, which must be proven by expert testimony and which requires submission of a good faith certificate.
The plaintiff claims that §
Failure to attach a good faith certificate to a medical malpractice complaint renders it vulnerable to a motion to strike for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.LeConche v. Elligers,
The provisions of §
The complaint in the present case does not allege injury caused by medical malpractice. The acts complained of were committed at a hospital, but not in the course of medical care or treatment. Unlike the cases cited by the defendant, this case presents no issue relating to the exercise of medical judgment in the care or supervision of a patient.1
In Badrigian v. Elmcrest Psychiatric Institute, Inc.,
Underlying the plaintiff's claims of error on appeal was the contention that expert testimony was required to establish the standard of care owed to the decedent by the defendant. In response, the court stated that the "defendant is attempting to transform this case from one of simple negligence into that of medical malpractice requiring expert testimony to prove a medical standard of care and a breach thereof. The negligence alleged in the plaintiff's complaint was provable without expert medical testimony." Id., 386. The court found that there "was no esoteric or uniquely medical issue to be determined under the allegations of this case . . . nor any complex issue requiring specialized knowledge." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 387. Accordingly, the court held that there was no error in the trial court's submission of the case to the jury under the theory of simple negligence. See also Delaney v. Newington Children'sHospital, Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford/New Britain at Hartford, Docket No. 524063 (May 9, 1994, Wagner, J.) (relying on Badrigian to deny motion to strike complaint for failure to file good faith certificate in negligence action against hospital). CT Page 10159
The complaint in the present action alleges that the defendant's employees were careless in operating the gurney used to transport the plaintiff from the emergency room. The allegations of the complaint do not raise "esoteric or uniquely medical" issues requiring specialized medical knowledge.Badrigian v. Elmcrest Psychiatric Institute, Inc., supra,
A good faith certificate is not required under General Statutes §
Hendel, J.