Arizona Law On Medical Malpractice Suits Upheld

A new Arizona Supreme Court ruling upholds a state law that seeks to screen out flimsy medical-malpractice suits by requiring that plaintiffs have a testifying witness from the same medical specialty as the doctor being sued.

The court’s unanimous ruling issued Tuesday says the requirement makes it more difficult to file medical-malpractice suits but is not unconstitutional because the requirement doesn’t flatly prevent plaintiffs from having their day in court.

The ruling was issued in a case from Tucson in which a University Physicians Healthcare doctor was sued. The doctor was sued by the father of a 17-year-old girl who died from blood clots after being hospitalized for other blood clots.

The Supreme Court’s ruling sends the case back down to trial court for further proceedings.