Opinion
No. CV-08-5025413S
February 11, 2009
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
The defendant has moved to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint on the grounds that the plaintiffs failed to comply with the requirements of Connecticut General Statutes § 52-190a. The defendant claims that the plaintiff did not meet the statutory mandate of this section which requires the attachment of written certification from a similar health care provider stating a good faith belief that the plaintiff's injuries were the result of medical negligence. In particular, the defendant claims that the certifications contained in the complaint lacked a "detailed basis" for the required good faith belief.
In the first letter, a board certified physician in emergency medicine reached the conclusion that the defendant hospital had not met the standard of care in emergency medicine. In the second letter, a nurse experienced in emergency room procedures reached a similar conclusion. The plaintiff, administratrix of the estate of the deceased who was a twenty-two year old recipient of a heart transplant, claimed, that after being transported to the defendant's facility from a walk-in clinic also run by the defendant, the woman received initial treatment and was left in an observation room for a period of one hour and twenty-seven minutes without monitoring. The plaintiff further claims that during that period of time the woman's condition deteriorated and she never regained consciousness. She was taken off life support five days later.
Upon reviewing the relevant case law presented by both the plaintiff and defendant, the court finds the present complaint can be sufficiently distinguished from Connecticut cases such as DeLude v. Young, 2008 WL 588746 (Conn.Super., February 5, 2008) and Landry v. Zborowski, 2007 WL 2570398 (Conn.Super. August 21, 2007). While there may well be issues for the trier of fact to determine in the future, the court concludes that the plaintiff meets the threshold requirement of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a(a) to survive the defendant's motion to dismiss.
The motion to dismiss is denied.