Reversing a trial court’s refusal to dismiss a medical-malpractice case, a state appeals court has thrown out the action, ruling that the hospital’s expert established the absence of proximate cause while the plaintiff’s expert misstated facts and failed to address a key medical issue.

Highlighting the importance of battling experts in the early stages of medical-malpractice litigation, an Appellate Division, First Department panel decided on Tuesday to toss out a lawsuit centered on a patient’s developing of an ulcer while at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.