John L.A. Lyddane
Current medical practice involves increasingly complicated relationships among providers of medical care who are separated into roles defined by specialty as well as business relationships. When medical malpractice complaints include multiple defendants, it is not clear at the outset what diverse duties the various providers may have. Discovery will remove some but not all of the uncertainty, but the first test of the sufficiency of the claims against some or all of the defendants may not come until after discovery is completed and summary judgment motions are made.
In the context of a number of motions for summary judgment, the court is faced with competing arguments supported by expert witness affidavits, most of which debate whether there are questions of fact for a jury to determine. In the presence of extensive submissions with competing expert opinions, it is tempting to question how there could not be issues of fact. However, the first question as to each defendant is whether there was a duty to the patient which would have been violated if the claim otherwise has merit.
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