Murray v. Central Is. Healthcare

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed an order granting summary judgment to a physical rehabilitation center in a medical malpractice and wrongful death action. The court held that the plaintiff's expert raised a triable issue regarding fall-risk assessment but failed to establish proximate causation or a departure from the standard of care in administering oxycodone.

Holdings

1. A medical-malpractice defendant seeking summary judgment must establish prima facie either that it did not depart from accepted community standards of practice or that any departure was not a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries; once that showing is made, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to rebut it with evidence raising a triable issue of fact.
2. Although the plaintiff raised a triable issue as to whether Central Island Healthcare departed from the standard of care by improperly assessing the decedent as a low fall risk and failing to implement precautions, the plaintiff did not raise a triable issue as to proximate cause because the expert's opinion that the precautions could have prevented the fall or minimized the injuries was conclusory and speculative.
3. The plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact concerning negligent administration of oxycodone because the expert neither set forth the applicable standard of care for administering pain medication to the decedent nor opined that the defendant departed from that standard.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Central Island Healthcare established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment on the medical-malpractice and wrongful-death claims.
2. Whether the plaintiff's expert raised a triable issue of fact concerning whether the facility's fall-risk assessment and failure to implement fall precautions proximately caused the decedent's fall or injuries.
3. Whether the plaintiff's expert raised a triable issue of fact concerning negligent administration of oxycodone.

Disposition

affirmed