Hendrix v. Fulton DeKalb Hosp. Auth.

The parents and the estate of Billy Ray Hendrix, Jr., deceased, sued the Fulton County Hospital Authority d/b/a Grady Memorial Hospital d/b/a Grady Health System Grady Hospital or the Hospital seeking to recover damages for Hendrix’s wrongful death and pain and suffering arising from medical malpractice which allegedly occurred during medical treatment Hendrix received at Grady Hospital for injuries he suffered in an automobile accident.1 The Hospital moved for summary judgment on the basis that: 1 the expert affidavit filed with the complaint pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-9.1 was defective because the expert was not competent to testify; and 2 the Parents/Estate failed to cure the defect pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-9.1 e. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Hospital, and the Parents/Estate appeal. For the following reasons, we affirm.2

The medical malpractice complaint, filed on February 7, 2013, alleged that, while Hendrix was being treated at Grady Hospital from July 23, 2010 to November 18, 2010 for serious injuries he suffered in an automobile accident, the Hospital negligently failed to comply with the applicable standard of medical care by allowing him to develop multiple decubitus ulcers pressure sores; that “the decubitus ulcers were not treated properly and he developed an infection;” and that “as a result of the progression and exacerbation of the decubitus ulcers and serious infection, he succumbed to death due to the bacterial infection and sepsis on February 9, 2011″ about 12 weeks after he was discharged from Grady Hospital to another medical facility. With the complaint, the Parents/Estate filed an expert affidavit from Adel Shaker, M.D., a medical doctor practicing in the specialty of forensic pathology. Grady Hospital filed a motion to dismiss which alleged that the affidavit was defective because it failed to set forth at least one negligent act or omission, and because Dr. Shaker was not an expert competent to testify under the standards set forth in OCGA § 24-7-702 c 2 as required by OCGA § 9-11-9.1. Within 30 days of the Hospital’s motion, the Parents/Estate filed an amended expert affidavit from Dr. Shaker purporting to cure the alleged defects.