Client Advisory

In Hood v. Kindred Hospital, the trial court issued a decision dismissing a plaintiff’s case for non-compliance with New Jersey’s affidavit of merit (“AOM”) statute, relying on Hargett v. Hamilton Park for the proposition that an AOM referring generally to the defendant hospital’s nursing staff was an impermissible blanket AOM because it did not specifically identify the individuals who had purportedly deviated from the standard of care.

The Appellate Division reversed, clarifying that the Supreme Court in Hargett v. Hamilton Park did not establish a brightline rule requiring every individual identified as a defendant to be identified by name. Instead, the statute, as interpreted by Moschella v. Hackensack Meridian, requires only that the AOM “give[ ] reasonable notice of the class of professional whose conduct is challenged,” particularly when only one facility and its staff is involved, the claims are rooted in classic vicarious liability principles, and it is difficult to identify which personnel engaged in what conduct.

With this more relaxed reading of New Jersey’s AOM statute, healthcare clients should anticipate receiving more complaints that name more general categories of licensed professionals and even less information in AOMs.