Christopher W. Hofmann (Associate-White Plains, NY) obtained complete summary judgment from the Bronx County Supreme Court in favor of Wilson Elser’s client, a large, certified home health agency based in New York City. The plaintiff, acting on behalf of the decedent ‒ an insulin-dependent diabetic who received skilled nursing visits at home following her discharge from a non-party hospital ‒ asserted claims sounding in negligence and medical malpractice. The plaintiff alleged that the agency failed to monitor the decedent’s blood glucose levels properly and failed to correctly administer and monitor insulin dosages, resulting in a worsening of her diabetic condition. According to the allegations, the decedent subsequently developed altered mental status, hypothermia, and hypoxia secondary to severe hypoglycemia, which ultimately resulted in her death.

Chris moved for summary judgment, arguing that responsibility for administering insulin and monitoring the decedent’s blood glucose levels rested solely with the decedent’s caregiver. The motion was supported by a nursing expert who opined that the agency’s initial and ongoing nursing assessments properly determined that the caregiver demonstrated sufficient diabetes-management knowledge and self-management skills, including insulin administration, blood glucose monitoring, and recognition and treatment of hypoglycemia. In further support of the motion, a geriatric expert affirmed that the sole proximate cause of the decedent’s severe hypoglycemia and related symptoms was a medication error, specifically, the caregiver’s administration of excessive insulin. In opposition, the plaintiff argued that the agency should not have allowed the decedent’s caregiver, whom the plaintiff characterized as an untrained “layperson,” to administer insulin or monitor the decedent’s blood glucose levels.

In granting summary judgment, the court found the opinion of plaintiff’s expert to be “pure speculation,” and agreed with Chris’s arguments that the opinion was conclusory, unsupported by the evidence, and contradicted by the medical records and testimony establishing the decedent’s caregiver’s longstanding experience and demonstrated competence in performing these tasks. The court also agreed that the sole departure raised in opposition had not been previously pleaded, that the plaintiff’s expert physician was unqualified to opine on the skilled nursing standard of care, and that the plaintiff failed to establish how any alleged error by the decedent’s caregiver could be attributed to our agency client.