Vicksburg Healthcare, LLC v. Clara Dees, 152 So. 3d 1171

Clara Dees filed a medical malpractice complaint in Warren County Circuit Court in Oct 2010 against Heritage House Nursing Home and River Region Medical Center.
An amended complaint with a certificate of consultation followed in Jan 2011; summonses were issued Feb–Mar 2011 after delays.
Heritage House and employees arbitration led to an order staying proceedings; Vicksburg Healthcare later moved to dismiss or for summary judgment.
Arbitrator found Dees failed to designate an expert and failed to respond to discovery; circuit court dismissed Heritage claims with prejudice in Apr 2012.
In Dec 2012–Jan 2013, Vicksburg Healthcare moved for discovery compliance and for summary judgment; Dees designated an expert (Dr. Inna Sheyner) but provided no affidavit.
Circuit court denied summary judgment initially, granted Dees 60 days to produce a sworn affidavit, and reserved renewal of summary judgment for later.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether summary judgment was proper without sworn expert testimony	Dees argues genuine issues of material fact exist requiring trial and expert support.	Vicksburg Healthcare contends expert testimony is essential to prove medical negligence and sustain summary judgment.	Summary judgment affirmed; expert testimony required to establish prima facie case.
Whether the 60-day extension under Rule 56(f) was an abuse of discretion	Dees contends additional time was necessary to obtain an expert affidavit.	Vicksburg Healthcare asserts no diligent effort or justification was shown for the extension.	Trial court abused its discretion by granting extension; court should have granted summary judgment.

Crosthwait v. Southern Health Corp. of Houston, Inc., 94 So. 3d 1070 (Miss. 2012) (expert testimony required to prove medical negligence)
Kuiper v. Tarnabine, 20 So. 3d 658 (Miss. 2009) (summary-judgment standard when plaintiff fails to prove an element)
Neely v. North Miss. Med. Ctr., Inc., 996 So. 2d 726 (Miss. 2008) (summary judgment standard and need for proof of prima facie case)
Smith ex rel. Smith v. Gilmore Mem’l Hosp., 952 So. 2d 177 (Miss. 2007) (necessity of expert testimony in medical-negligence actions)
Estate of Northrop v. Hutto, 9 So. 3d 381 (Miss. 2009) (de novo standard for review of summary-judgment denial)
Owens v. Thomae, 759 So. 2d 1117 (Miss. 1999) (necessity of showing diligence to grant Rule 56(f) extension)
Jones v. Mullen, 100 So. 3d 490 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012) (specific-facts requirements for Rule 56(f) continuances)