Kathy L. Siner, Personal Representative of the Estate of Geraldine A. Siner, Deceased, and John T. Siner, Prior Enduring Power of Attorney and Medical Representative of the Deceased v. Kindred Hospital Limited Partnership, d/b/a Kindred Hospital of Indianapolis, et al., Mohammed A. Majid, M.D., Dennis Nicely, and David Uhrin, R.N.

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court reversed summary judgment for Kindred Hospital and Dr. Mohammed Majid in a medical malpractice action brought by representatives of Geraldine Siner's estate. The court held that the defendants' designated evidence, including affidavits and the medical review panel's opinion, created a genuine issue of material fact regarding causation. The court concluded that conflicting evidence must be resolved by a trier of fact rather than on summary judgment.

Holdings

1. A party moving for summary judgment in Indiana bears the initial burden of affirmatively demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact on at least one element of the opposing party's claim; merely showing that the opponent lacks evidence is insufficient.
2. Conflicting expert medical opinions on the ultimate issue of causation create a genuine issue of material fact and preclude summary judgment, even when the conflicting evidence might be insufficient by itself to support a verdict.
3. Evidence need not be sufficient to support a verdict in order to defeat summary judgment; a medical review panel opinion that creates a genuine conflict on a material issue is sufficient to preclude summary judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the defendants' designated evidence affirmatively negated at least one element of the plaintiffs' medical-malpractice claims.
2. Whether conflicting medical opinions concerning causation created a genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment.
3. Whether the medical review panel opinion was too speculative to create a genuine issue of material fact for summary-judgment purposes.

Disposition

reversed