Juetten v. LCA-Vision, Inc., 777 N.W.2d 772 (Minn. App. 2010), rev. denied (Minn. Apr. 28, 2010)
Type of Case: Medical Malpractice
Office(s): Minneapolis
Date: Apr 28 2010
The plaintiff sued LCA Vision for complications arising from Lasik surgery performed at LCA. The surgeon was not sued, although his conduct was specifically referenced in the original complaint. He was not employed by LCA. Plaintiff failed to meet the deadline to disclose experts against LCA, and the court dismissed the complaint against LCA, with prejudice. Prior to LCA’s dismissal, plaintiff had amended the complaint by adding the surgeon as a defendant. After LCA was dismissed, surgeon then moved for dismissal, based on the expert disclosure statute, which the trial court granted. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that dismissal was proper under operation of the expert affidavit statute given that the surgeon’s identity was known at the time of service of the original complaint. Accordingly, the deadline to disclose experts against the surgeon was the same as the deadline as to LCA. Plaintiff failed to meet the deadline, and could not circumvent the statute by adding a known defendant later.
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