{
  "id": 11469358,
  "name": "JACKIE E. LEWIS, Plaintiff v. DR. JANAKI RAM SETTY, Defendant",
  "name_abbreviation": "Lewis v. Setty",
  "decision_date": "1998-08-18",
  "docket_number": "No. COA97-1294",
  "first_page": "606",
  "last_page": "609",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "130 N.C. App. 606"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 5,
    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
  },
  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 90-21.11",
      "category": "laws:leg_statute",
      "reporter": "N.C. Gen. Stat.",
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "205 S.E.2d 345",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1974,
      "pin_cites": [
        {
          "page": "348",
          "parenthetical": "when nurses did not raise rails of bed or instruct patient to ask for assistance in getting out of bed, patient's action for damages resulting from fall was for ordinary negligence, not medical malpractice"
        }
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "21 N.C. App. 623",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C. App.",
      "case_ids": [
        8557140
      ],
      "year": 1974,
      "pin_cites": [
        {
          "page": "626-27",
          "parenthetical": "when nurses did not raise rails of bed or instruct patient to ask for assistance in getting out of bed, patient's action for damages resulting from fall was for ordinary negligence, not medical malpractice"
        }
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc-app/21/0623-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "42 L. Ed. 2d 636",
      "category": "reporters:federal",
      "reporter": "L. Ed. 2d",
      "year": 1974,
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "419 U.S. 1043",
      "category": "reporters:federal",
      "reporter": "U.S.",
      "case_ids": [
        6461731,
        6461571,
        6461832,
        6462002,
        6462067,
        6461661,
        6461918
      ],
      "year": 1974,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/us/419/1043-03",
        "/us/419/1043-01",
        "/us/419/1043-04",
        "/us/419/1043-06",
        "/us/419/1043-07",
        "/us/419/1043-02",
        "/us/419/1043-05"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "206 S.E.2d 203",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1974,
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "285 N.C. 530",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C.",
      "case_ids": [
        8565346
      ],
      "year": 1974,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc/285/0530-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "204 S.E.2d 25",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1974,
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "285 N.C. 235",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C.",
      "case_ids": [
        8563464,
        8563434,
        8563407,
        8563512,
        8563486
      ],
      "year": 1974,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc/285/0235-03",
        "/nc/285/0235-02",
        "/nc/285/0235-01",
        "/nc/285/0235-05",
        "/nc/285/0235-04"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "157 N.W.2d 870",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "N.W.2d",
      "case_ids": [
        5226113
      ],
      "year": 1968,
      "pin_cites": [
        {
          "page": "872"
        }
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/neb/183/0012-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "203 S.E.2d 411",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1974,
      "pin_cites": [
        {
          "page": "415",
          "parenthetical": "quoting Marx v. Hartford Acc. & Ind. Co., 157 N.W.2d 870, 872 (Neb. 1968)"
        }
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "21 N.C. App. 102",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C. App.",
      "case_ids": [
        8554526
      ],
      "year": 1974,
      "pin_cites": [
        {
          "page": "105-06",
          "parenthetical": "quoting Marx v. Hartford Acc. & Ind. Co., 157 N.W.2d 870, 872 (Neb. 1968)"
        }
      ],
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc-app/21/0102-01"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "analysis": {
    "cardinality": 398,
    "char_count": 6340,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.758,
    "pagerank": {
      "raw": 2.725677737146647e-07,
      "percentile": 0.830569851755836
    },
    "sha256": "a15d0779e2234d0b7c393f42fe3742a36b49bf56fa20fb6db8299484024cb229",
    "simhash": "1:5a26174036481702",
    "word_count": 1011
  },
  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T19:24:27.441929+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges MARTIN, Mark D. and TIMMONS-GOODSON concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "JACKIE E. LEWIS, Plaintiff v. DR. JANAKI RAM SETTY, Defendant"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "GREENE, Judge.\nJackie E. Lewis (plaintiff) appeals from the trial court\u2019s grant of Dr. Janaki Ram Setty\u2019s (defendant) motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to comply with Rule 9(j).\nThe plaintiff alleges the following in his complaint: The plaintiff, a quadriplegic, made an appointment with the defendant for an examination because the plaintiff was having chest pains. Prior to the appointment, the plaintiff inquired about the defendant\u2019s facilities, and was assured that the office was equipped with a table that could be raised and lowered to facilitate the plaintiff\u2019s transfer to and from his wheelchair. On 4 April 1996, the appointment took place at the defendant\u2019s office. The examination table had a lever on its side which allowed it to be raised or lowered. The plaintiff, however, was successfully transferred from his wheelchair to the examination table without the examination table being raised or lowered, and the defendant then examined the plaintiff.\nAfter the examination, the defendant and Brenda Norris (Ms. Norris), the plaintiff\u2019s live-in assistant, attempted to transfer the plaintiff from the examination table back to the wheelchair without lowering the table. During the attempted transfer, a loud \u201cpop\u201d was heard, and the plaintiff complained of dizziness and began to perspire. X-rays later showed a subcapital fracture to the right hip.\nThe plaintiff filed a complaint against the defendant alleging that the defendant \u201cfailed to use reasonable care by not raising and lowering the head of the examining table in the course of performing the [p]laintiff\u2019s examination.\u201d The complaint did not assert that \u201cthe medical care ha[d] been reviewed by a person who is reasonably expected to qualify as an expert witness\u201d as required by Rule 9(j) for medical malpractice actions.\nThe issue is whether the defendant\u2019s alleged negligence falls within the definition of medical malpractice as that term is used in Rule 9Q).\nRule 9(j) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure provides that complaints alleging \u201cmedical malpractice by a health care provider as defined in G.S. 90-21.Il[] in failing to comply with the applicable standard of care under G.S. 90-21.12 shall be dismissed unless\u201d the complaint specifically asserts that the medical care has been reviewed by a person who will qualify as an expert witness or by a person the complainant will seek to have qualified as an expert witness. N.C.G.S. \u00a7 1A-1, Rule 9(j) (Supp. 1997).\nA \u201cmedical malpractice action\u201d as used in Article IB of Chapter 90 of the North Carolina General Statutes is defined as \u201ca civil action for damages for personal injury or death arising out of the furnishing or failure to furnish professional services in the performance of medical, dental, or other health care by a health care provider.\u201d N.C.G.S. \u00a7 90-21.11 (1997) (emphasis added). \u201cProfessional services\u201d has been defined by this Court to mean an act or service \u201c \u2018arising out of a vocation, calling, occupation, or employment involving specialized knowledge, labor, or skill, and the labor [or] skill involved is predominantly mental or intellectual, rather than physical or manual.\u2019 \u201d Smith v. Keator, 21 N.C. App. 102, 105-06, 203 S.E.2d 411, 415 (1974) (quoting Marx v. Hartford Acc. & Ind. Co., 157 N.W.2d 870, 872 (Neb. 1968)), cert. denied, 285 N.C. 235, 204 S.E.2d 25, and aff'd, 285 N.C. 530, 206 S.E.2d 203, and appeal dismissed, 419 U.S. 1043, 42 L. Ed. 2d 636 (1974); see Irving J. Sloan, Professional Malpractice 4 (1992) (professional services encompass work that is \u201cpredominately intellectual and varied in character (as distinguished from routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work)\u201d); 1 David W. Louisell and Harold Williams, Medical Malpractice \u00a7 8.01 [2] (1998) (\u201c[A]cts or omissions in malpractice involve matters of medical science.\u201d).\nIn this case, the removal of the plaintiff from the examination table to the wheelchair did not involve an occupation involving specialized knowledge or skill, as it was predominately a physical or manual activity. It thus follows that the alleged negligent acts of the defendant do not fall into the realm of professional medical services. Any negligence which may have occurred when the defendant and Ms. Norris attempted to move the plaintiff from the examination table back to his wheelchair falls squarely within the parameters of ordinary negligence. See Angela Holder, Medical Malpractice Law 175 (1975) (actions involving falls from beds or examining tables, equipment failures, or other types of accidents in a doctor\u2019s office differ from medical malpractice actions because they do not involve negligent treatment); see also Norris v. Hospital, 21 N.C. App. 623, 626-27, 205 S.E.2d 345, 348 (1974) (when nurses did not raise rails of bed or instruct patient to ask for assistance in getting out of bed, patient\u2019s action for damages resulting from fall was for ordinary negligence, not medical malpractice). It was not necessary, therefore, for plaintiff to specifically comply with Rule 9(j) and the dismissal must be reversed.\nReversed.\nJudges MARTIN, Mark D. and TIMMONS-GOODSON concur.\n. In this case there is no dispute that the defendant is a health care provider within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 90-21.11.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "GREENE, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Lennard D. Tucker, for plaintiff appellant.",
      "Wilson & Iseman, L.L.P., by Elizabeth Horton, for defendant appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "JACKIE E. LEWIS, Plaintiff v. DR. JANAKI RAM SETTY, Defendant\nNo. COA97-1294\n(Filed 18 August 1998)\nMedical Malpractice\u2014 professional medical services \u2014 transfer from examining table to wheelchair\nThe dismissal of an action pursuant to N.C.G.S. \u00a7 1A-1, Rule 9(j) for failure to have the medical care reviewed by an expert was reversed where plaintiff\u2019s injury occurred while he was being moved from the examination table to a wheelchair. Removal of plaintiff to the wheelchair was predominately a physical or manual activity which did not involve an occupation involving specialized knowledge or skill and the alleged negligent acts of defendant thus do not fall into the realm of professional medical services. It was therefore not necessary for plaintiff to specifically comply with Rule 9(j).\nAppeal by plaintiff from order filed 7 August 1997 by Judge W. Osmond Smith, III, in Forsyth County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 3 June 1998.\nLennard D. Tucker, for plaintiff appellant.\nWilson & Iseman, L.L.P., by Elizabeth Horton, for defendant appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0606-01",
  "first_page_order": 638,
  "last_page_order": 641
}