OOA Joins Court Brief

(August 16, 2024) The OOA joined with other medical associations to file an amicus brief, August 6, in a case that would negatively impact physicians by extending and broadening the scope of liability exposure.

Lewis v. MedCentral Health System involves a patient who fell out of her hospital bed, fracturing her neck. She filed an action against the hospital and ten John Doe defendants. The John Doe defendants were identified as “physicians, nurses, hospitals, corporations, health care professionals, or other entities that provided negligent medical care...” When an amended complaint was filed eliminating the John Doe defendants and adding other defendants to the action, the one-year statute of limitations for medical claims had already expired.

The friend of the court brief argues the Fifth District Appellate Court erred when it reversed the decision of the trial court to grant a motion to dismiss. The plaintiff failed to properly and timely name John Doe defendants as required by law. The brief reads, in part:

…the argument ignores this Court’s longstanding recognition that a plaintiff who believes she is the victim of malpractice has a duty to investigate and discover the identity of the practitioner who committed the alleged malpractice. Once a medical claim has accrued, the failure of the plaintiff to learn the identity of an allegedly negligent party does not delay the running of the statute of limitations.

Advocacy to protect Ohio DOs and the practice of osteopathic medicine is at the core of OOA’s mission. That advocacy occurs at each branch of state government: executive, legislative, and judicial. This friend of the court brief allows the OOA to advise the Court of additional, relevant information to consider.

See the OOA Court Watch for more information about this and other legal cases.