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Carol Rooney & Ryan Garrett Win Summary Judgment in Medical Malpractice Action

August 8, 2016

Carol Rooney and Ryan Garrett’s teamwork and tenacity has proved victorious in their medical malpractice case. Here is more information about the case that was recently covered in DRI’s “The Voice”.

The Plaintiff asserted that her medical providers negligently prescribed a medication that caused a particular gastrointestinal disorder which required surgical intervention. In deposition, the plaintiff specified her symptoms, admitting that she had experienced gastrointestinal issues throughout her life and was being treated with medication by other providers for other unrelated symptoms.

The medical providers moved for summary judgment, attaching affidavits from medical experts opining the medication the defendants prescribed did not cause the Plaintiff’s gastrointestinal disorder. Plaintiff filed an affidavit from a medical expert who opined that the medical providers were negligent and that their negligence caused Plaintiff’s maladies. However, his affidavit was based in part on his incorrect assumption that Plaintiff had no pre-existing gastrointestinal symptoms prior to taking the medication prescribed by the defendants, in direct conflict with Plaintiff’s prior admissions about having life-long gastrointestinal issues.

The trial court granted summary judgment, ruling that the expert affidavit did not create a contested issue of material fact, because it did not address the Plaintiff’s previous sworn testimony containing conflicting background information. This issue and others were raised on appeal, and the appellate court affirmed the summary judgment. The rulings are consistent with several decades of established Florida law prohibiting a party from contradicting her own prior testimony with her own affidavit or the affidavit of another in an effort to create a disputed issue of material fact to avoid summary judgment.