New Health Care Liability Action Opinion: Defense Verdict Upheld on Appeal

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has issued its opinion in Popick v. Vanderbilt University Hospital, No. M2015-01271-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 13, 2017).  Here is the syllabus from the slip opinion:

The plaintiff filed this health care liability action against the defendant hospital after the death of her husband, alleging that his death was the result of negligent medical treatment. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant. On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the trial court committed reversible error in: (1) excluding certain email messages as hearsay; (2) overruling her objections to defense counsel‟s crossexamination of a witness; (3) failing to instruct the jury to ignore statements made by defense counsel in closing argument; (4) refusing a request for a special jury instruction; and (5) declining to change the special verdict form. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the decision of the trial court. 

Here's a link to the slip opinion:

http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/popick.elizabeth.opn_.pdf

New Opinion: Dismissal of Plaintiff's Case Overturned on Appeal

The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently issued its opinion in Cordell v. Cleveland Tennessee Hospital, LLC, No. M2016-01466-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 2, 2017).  The syllabus from the slip opinion states as follows:

The trial court, pursuant to a motion to dismiss filed by defendants, dismissed the plaintiff’s lawsuit because she did not comply with certain aspects of the Tennessee Healthcare Liability Act incident to the filing of her original complaint. Because we do not construe the allegations in the original complaint as presenting any health care liability claims, we reverse the trial court’s dismissal of this lawsuit and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.

Here is a link to the slip opinion:

http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/cordell.opn_.pdf