A lawsuit against Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey was reinstated. The lawsuit claims that the hospital wrongly listed a patient as having schizophrenia and the patient was held for 12 days. The patient is a lawyer so this could heavily affect her professional employment status.
The patient sued the defendants, claiming medical malpractice, defamation, and emotional distress. The suit was initially dismissed due to the lack of a medical expert’s affidavit supporting the claims.
An appeal was filed, and the New Jersey appellate court found no expert affidavit was needed because the issue was within common knowledge and that errors in medical records are straightforward and don’t require medical expertise for a jury to understand. The court ruled the defamation claim should be judged by a negligence standard, not by proving intent to harm. The case was returned to the trial court for further proceedings.