Galadriel Basham, Individually and as Next-Of-Kin of Baby Girl Basham, Deceased v. Mark K. Greaves, M.D.

In this medical malpractice action, the plaintiff contends the emergency room physician failed to comply with the applicable standard of care, which she contends is the standard for board-certified emergency room physicians, regardless of the locale in which the physician practices, and that the trial judge improperly instructed the jury concerning the applicable community. The novel issue presented is whether the term “community,” as it applies to the so-called locality rule, can be construed to mean the medical community of specialists who are board-certified as emergency room physicians without regard to the geographic location of their practice. Although we find the issue intriguing, the facts of this case render the issue moot.  Accordingly, we affirm.