AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The Plaintiff-Appellant, in a self-represented capacity, filed medical malpractice claims against Defendants, including Ardent Health Services, Anasazi Medical Associates, and Lovelace doctors William Hughes and Thomas Strain, alleging that her blood pressure medication caused an allergic reaction leading to various physical ailments. She also claimed she was wrongfully denied a prescription for a different medication, which she argued poisoned her system over time, necessitating multiple ambulance rides and leading to over twenty heart upsets, tinnitus, nose bleeds, loss of vision, and a lack of balance (paras 1, 3).

Procedural History

• District Court of Bernalillo County, Clay Campbell, District Judge: Dismissed the Plaintiff's medical malpractice claims against the Defendants (para 1).

Parties' Submissions

• Plaintiff-Appellant: Argued that the prescribed blood pressure medication caused an allergic reaction leading to severe physical ailments and that she was wrongfully denied a prescription for a different medication, which resulted in further health complications (para 3).
• Defendant-Appellees: [Not applicable or not found]

Legal Issues

• Whether the district court erred in dismissing the Plaintiff's medical malpractice claims against the Defendants due to lack of timely appeal for some Defendants and lack of expert testimony for others (paras 2, 4).

Disposition

• Dismissed the Plaintiff’s appeal from the order dismissing Ardent Health Services and Anasazi Medical Associates due to untimeliness (para 6).
• Affirmed the district court’s order granting summary judgment and dismissing the Plaintiff's claims against the Lovelace Defendants on the merits (para 6).

Reasons

• The Court, consisting of Judges Jonathan B. Sutin, Michael D. Bustamante, and Linda M. Vanzi, concluded that the Plaintiff did not timely appeal the orders dismissing her claims against Defendants Ardent Health Services and Anasazi Medical Associates, which is a mandatory precondition to the Court's jurisdiction over an appeal (para 2). Regarding the claims against the Lovelace Defendants, the Court found that expert testimony was necessary to establish whether the Defendants' treatment fell below the standard of care. The Plaintiff failed to disclose any experts who would support her claims against the Lovelace Defendants, despite having nearly seven years to do so and the district court's repeated instructions to provide such testimony. The Court determined that without expert testimony, there could be no disputed issue of fact regarding the Plaintiff's allegations, leading to the affirmation of the summary judgment in favor of the Lovelace Defendants (paras 4-5).