Harris, et al. v. Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., et al.
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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE RICHARD R. COOCH RESIDENT JUDGE NEW CASTLE COUNTY COURTHOUSE 500 North King Street, Suite 10400 Wilmington, Delaware 19801-3733 (302) 255-0664 Richard A. Zappa, Esquire Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP The Brandywine Building 1000 West Street, 17th Floor P.O. Box 391 Wilmington, Delaware 19899 Attorney for Plaintiffs Dennis D. Ferri, Esquire Morris James Hitchens & Williams LLP 222 Delaware Avenue, 10th Floor P.O. Box 2306 Wilmington, Delaware 19899 Attorney for Defendants Re: Irene Harris et al. v. Christiana Care Health Services, Inc. and Christiana Care Health System, Inc. C.A. No. 06C-02-047 RRC On Defendants Motion to Determine if the Affidavit of Merit Complies with Sections (a)(1) and (c)of Title 18 ยง 6853. Affidavit Reviewed. Submitted: March 24, 2006 Decided: April 13, 2006 Dear Counsel: Defendants filed a motion on March 24, 2006 asking the Court to determine if the Affidavit of Merit filed on February 3, 2006 with the complaint alleging health care negligence complies with 18 Del. C. Section 6853.1 1 This case was consolidated on April 12, 2006 with. Irene Harris et al. v. Mary Ann I have reviewed the Affidavit of Merit and note the following: 1. The expert s affidavit states in part that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the nursing staff of the Christiana Care Health Services, Inc. and/or Christiana Care Health System, Inc. breached the applicable standard of nursing care . . 2 (emphasis added). Section 6853(a)(1) requires a statement by the expert that there has been health care medical negligence committed by each defendant. 2. The statute requires a statement that in the expert s opinion there are reasonable grounds to believe that there has been health care negligence. The affidavit of the expert says in part: The opinions I have preliminarily reached in this case are based on reasonable medical probability within the field of nursing. 3. Related to paragraph 2, above, Defendants, in their motion, ask the Court to determine that the proferred expert is an expert in the area of critical care nursing. The proferred expert does not describe himself/herself an expert in critical care nursing, but rather in nursing. At this juncture, the Court is not in a position finally to conclude one way or another if an affidavit should have been submitted by an expert within any subspecialty of critical care nursing. If Defendants wish to submit anything further, given the above information, any further submissions shall be filed by April 26. If nothing is filed by Defendants by that date, the Court will assume that Defendants do not challenge the legal sufficiency of the Affidavit of Merit. Very truly yours, RRC/mtc Connor D.O. et al. C.A. No. 05C-06-101 RRC. 2 One authority states as to and/or : And/or: used to indicate that either and or or may be used to connect words, phrases, or clauses depending upon what meaning is used. And/or is widely used in legal and business writing. Its use in general writing to mean one or the other or both is acceptable but can appear stilted. The American Heritage Dictionary, Second Edition (pg. 108, 1991). See also Ellet v. Ramzy, 2004 WL2240153 (Del. Super.) (holding that an affidavit of merit was technically inadequate and equivocal where the affidavit stated that the breach from the applicable standard of care was a proximate cause of and/or was a substantial contributing factor to the injuries suffered by Plaintiff. . . ) (emphasis added). cc: John A. Elzufon, Esquire Prothonotary
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