BRIAN ALLIGOOD WINS DISMISSAL OF WRONGFUL DEATH ACTION AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA NURSING HOME
By August 25, 2017 News/Events/Seminars
Brian Alligood of the firm’s Greensboro, North Carolina office recently prevailed on a motion to dismiss a wrongful death action filed against a North Carolina nursing home. The complaint alleged that the nursing home staff was negligent in leaving a bottle of body wash within the reach of a demented resident with an alleged propensity to ingest foreign objects.
BKBM moved to dismiss the complaint on grounds that the complaint failed to comply with the pre-suit expert witness certification requirements of Rule 9(j) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. In response to the motion, the plaintiff argued that her complaint could proceed under a general negligence theory and thereby elude Rule 9(j) requirements. The plaintiff also filed an amended complaint in an effort to support this alternative theory. Mr. Alligood successfully argued that the complaint, even as amended, sounded in medical malpractice and was subject to dismissal due to its Rule 9(j) noncompliance.