Piscitelli v. Hospital Auth. of Valdosta and Lowndes

The trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiff's wrongful death action against a hospital based solely upon a competency determination of the plaintiff's original expert, since the hospital never alleged that that plaintiff's other expert's affidavit was defective.

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Francine Piscitelli, as administratrix of the estate of Renato Capozzo and as the guardian of Capozzo’s minor children, appeals the dismissal of her wrongful death action against the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia d/b/a South Georgia Medical Center d/b/a Greenleaf Center. Because the Hospital Authority failed to show that dismissal was authorized, we reverse. On June 20, 2006, Capozzo admitted himself into the Greenleaf Center, a treatment facility for drug and alcohol abuse. As part of his treatment there, Capozzo’s attending physician prescribed Methadone. Capozzo was thereafter administered Methadone by individuals working at Greenleaf Center. On June 24, he was found dead in his hospital bed. Autopsy results showed that Capozzo died of a Methadone overdose.

In August 2007, Piscitelli filed suit against the Hospital Authority,1 charging that its Greenleaf Center facility had committed professional malpractice through its administrative and nursing staff. Given the applicability of OCGA § 9-11-9.1 to professional malpractice actions, Piscitelli attached to her complaint the affidavit and an accompanying curriculum vitae of Barbara Childs, R. N. In her affidavit, Childs opined about varied ways in which Greenleaf Center’s nursing staff had breached the standard of care due Capozzo.

Piscitelli v. Hospital Auth. of Valdosta and Lowndes

The trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiff's wrongful death action against a hospital based solely upon a competency determination of the plaintiff's original expert, since the hospital never alleged that that plaintiff's other expert's affidavit was defective.

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