KEVIN O'HANRAHAN, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHAEL W. MOORE, ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1999-04-14
No. 98-1304
DELL and GROSS, JJ., concur.
731 So. 2d 95 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1999) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

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Synopsis

Pro se incarcerated plaintiff Kevin O'Hanrahan appealed dismissal of his medical malpractice and Eighth Amendment claims against Department of Corrections officials. The court affirmed dismissal of the medical malpractice claims for failure to comply with statutory expert opinion requirements, but reversed the dismissal with prejudice, remanding for reconsideration without prejudice to allow amendment.


Holding

The court affirmed dismissal of medical malpractice claims for non-compliance with statutory expert opinion requirements. However, the court reversed the dismissal with prejudice because it was unclear whether the defect was incurable, and reversed as to Eighth Amendment claims which the trial court did not address.


Headnotes

[1] A medical malpractice action requires a verifiable, corroborating medical expert opinion under section 766.202(5), Florida Statutes, to satisfy presuit requirements.

[2] Failure to comply with Chapter 766, Florida Statutes, presuit requirements may not result in dismissal with prejudice unless it is clear the claimant cannot cure the defe…

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Key Quotes

“The failure to comply with Chapter 766 presuit requirements may not result in the dismissal of an action unless it is clear that the claimant could not possibly cure the defect and still maintain the action in compliance with the statutes.”

Establishes the standard for dismissal based on presuit requirement violations—dismissal is improper unless the defect is incurable.

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Facts & Procedural History

O'Hanrahan, an incarcerated pro se litigant, filed suit against Department of Corrections officials including the Secretary, Chief Health Officer, Phy…

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Opinion of the Court
SHAHOOD, J.

SHAHOOD, J.

Pro se incarcerated appellant, Kevin O’Hanrahan, filed a “Petition for Professional Malpractice of a Medical Nature Seeking Relief for Damages et. el. and Professional Negligence” against Harry K. Singletary, Secretary of Dept, of Corrections 1 Dr. Vijay, Chief Health Officer, M. Ramirez, Physicians Assistant, and Marilyn Burns, Health Services Administrator. In his petition, appellant raised medical malpractice claims and Eighth Amendment violations against the various defendants. The trial court entered a Final Judgment of Dismissal with prejudice on the grounds that appellant failed to produce a verifiable, corroborating medical expert opinion under section 766.202(5), Florida Statutes, in order to substantiate his medical malpractice claims. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part with directions.

We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of appellant’s petition based on his failure to produce a verifiable, corroborating medical expert opinion as defined in section 766.202(5), Florida Statutes, in order to comply with presuit requirements for initiating a medical malpractice action. Further, ^ye reject appellant’s request to declare Chapter 766, Florida Statutes, unconstitutional as applied to an incarcerated, pro se claimant, as a denial of access to courts.

In this case, there is no evidence that appellant was denied access to the courts. The -written medical expert opinion submitted by appellant simply did not comply with the requirements set forth in Chapter 766. Not only was the letter allegedly written by appellant’s expert, Dr. Ricardo Samitier, unverified, appellant represented that Dr. Samitier was no longer engaged in the practice of medicine. Further, there was no evidence that Dr. Samitier was duly and regularly involved in the practice of medicine or whether he was even qualified to render an expert opinion in this case.

Appellant next argues that the trial court erred in dismissing his complaint with prejudice as to all parties named in his petition. We agree to the extent that it is impossible to determine from appellant’s petition whether his medical malpractice claims are extinguished. The failure to comply with Chapter 766 presuit requirements may not result in the dismissal of an action unless it is clear that the claimant could not possibly cure the defect and still maintain the action in compliance with the statutes. See Citron v. Shell, 689 So. 2d 1288, 1290 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Further, since the trial court’s order does not address appellant’s Eighth Amendment claims, such claims may still be viable. Due to the confusing nature of appellant’s pleading, we are compelled to reverse and remand the trial court’s dismissal with prejudice.

Accordingly, we affirm the final judgment of the trial court in all respects, except as to the dismissal with prejudice, and direct the trial court to modify its final judgment to reflect that the dismissal is without prejudice and allow appellant leave to amend his petition against one or more of the named defendants.

Affirmed in part; reversed and remanded in part with directions.

DELL and GROSS, JJ., concur. . Harry K. Singletary was replaced by Michael W. Moore as the new Secretary for the Department of Corrections.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Tryshane Houston v. GEO, 73 So. 3d 323 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
    …s been previously dismissed, the Clerk cannot issue summons until the Court reopens the case. Plaintiffs Amended Complaint is legally insufficient. Plaintiff must provide corroborating opinion from verifiable medical expert. See O’Hanrahan v. Moore, 731 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED Plaintiffs Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice as legally insufficient. Plaintiffs Motion is also DISMISSED. The Clerk is instructed to reopen the case. Houston argues that t…
    1 / 2
  • Packer v. Lamour (M.D. Fla. 2020)
    …written medical expert opinion which corroborates the existence of reasonable grounds to initiate the litigation. See Fla. Stat. §§ 766.104, 766.106, 766.203(2). The pre-suit requirements apply to incarcerated plaintiffs. See O’Hanrahan v. Moore, 731 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999); Okaloosa Cnty. v. Custer, 697 So. 2d 1297 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). These statutory requirements also apply to cases filed in federal court. See McMahan v. Toto, 256 F. 3d 1120 (11th Cir. 2001). Plaintiff however does include…

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