New Jersey Supreme Court requires defendants in medical malpractice actions must include the specialty in which the defendant treated the plaintiff in the answer.

In this medical malpractice case brought against a physician for alleged negligence in prescribing Ambien to a sleep-deprived patient, the trial court and appellate court dismissed the complaint for failure to comply with New Jersey's Affidavit of Merit Statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-27. While the physician was board certified in emergency medicine, his "care and treatment" of the plaintiff involved family medicine. The plaintiff had attempted to satisfy the affidavit of merit (AOM) requirement by producing an AOM from both a psychiatrist and a board certified emergency room physician. The Supreme Court reversed the rulings of the lower courts, holding that the plaintiff made "good faith attempts" to satisfy the AOM statute and, had there been a Ferreira conference, the plaintiff would have had the opportunity to correct his mistake and file the proper AOM from a family practitioner. Most importantly, in an effort to minimize AOM confusion, the Supreme Court held that from August 22, 2011, forward, a physician defending against a malpractice claim, who admits to treating the plaintiff, must include in his answer the field of medicine in which he specializes, if any, and whether his treatment of the plaintiff involved that specialty.

Case Law Alert - 4th Qtr 2011