New Iowa Medical Negligence Rule Ends Plastic Surgery Suit

An Iowa woman’s lawsuit over two allegedly botched plastic surgeries was properly dismissed because she failed to clear a new procedural hurdle requiring an expert’s certificate of merit for medical malpractice cases in Iowa, a state appeals court said Wednesday.

Jessica McHugh didn’t file a statement from an expert witness attesting to the validity of her claims within 60 days of receiving doctor Adam Smith’s answer to her complaint, as required by the new law, the Iowa Court of Appeals said.

Nor did McHugh substantially comply with the requirement through her initial disclosures and discovery responses, the court said. ...