Romero v. Hasan – 1/5/2017

January 13, 2017

Court of Appeals Division One holds that a party filing a medical malpractice claim may not satisfy the requirement of filing an expert opinion affidavit under A.R.S. § 12-2603(D) by presenting live testimony from the expert.

A plaintiff’s medical malpractice claim was dismissed without prejudice because the plaintiff did not submit an expert opinion affidavit under A.R.S. § 12-2603(D) by a deadline set by the superior court.  Three days before the deadline, the plaintiff requested a hearing to allow the anticipated expert to provide testimony in lieu of an affidavit.  The superior court rejected the request and dismissed the claim.  The Court of Appeals affirmed, explaining that the statute requires an affidavit and does not provide for a hearing in lieu of serving the requisite affidavit.

Judge Thomson authored the opinion; Presiding Judge Johnsen and Judge Gurtler, Jr. concurred.