Iowa Code section 668.11 (2021) prohibits the testimony of experts in professional liability cases (Iowa medical malpractice cases) if not timely certified unless good cause is shown for missing the deadline.
Iowa Code section 668.11 provides:
A party in a professional liability case brought against a licensed professional pursuant to this chapter who intends to call an expert witness of their own selection, shall certify to the court and all other parties the expert’s name, qualifications and the purpose for calling the expert within the following time period:
a. The plaintiff within one hundred eighty days of the defendant’s answer unless the court for good cause not ex parte
extends the time of disclosure.
b. The defendant within ninety days of plaintiff’s certification.
If a party fails to disclose an expert pursuant to subsection 1 or does not make the expert available for discovery, the
expert shall be prohibited from testifying in the action unless leave for the expert’s testimony is given by the court for good cause shown.
Background
The plaintiff underwent hip joint replacement surgery and was injured in a fall while convalescing at the defendant hospital. He and his spouse sued the hospital, alleging professional negligence in his postoperative care. The
plaintiffs identified a nursing expert in a certificate of merit affidavit and an interrogatory answer. But the plaintiffs, without explanation, did not certify their nursing expert under section 668.11 until the defendant moved for summary
judgment three months after the agreed-upon deadline expired.
The plaintiffs argued that they did not need expert testimony because the defendant violated its own standard of care by failing to provide “1:1” patient care as promised, and laypersons could readily understand the obvious risk of harm from a fall. The plaintiffs further blamed defense counsel’s silence for missing the plaintiffs’ expert deadline, citing defense counsel’s silence about the deadline while discussing other scheduling matters and conducting fact witness discovery. The district court found good cause excused the delay, relying on defense counsel’s silence about that deadline while scheduling other matters. The court did not decide whether expert testimony was required.
The Iowa Supreme Court held in its 4-to-3 majority Opinion filed on May 23, 2025: “We hold that defense counsel’s silence about section 668.11’s certification deadline does not justify a finding of good cause. A contrary holding would undermine the statutory deadlines and rewrite section 668.11 to require reminders by opposing counsel … we conclude that the district court abused its discretion in ruling that good cause excused the plaintiffs’ three-month delay in certifying their expert under section 668.11. Defense counsel is not their brother’s keeper. We hold that defense counsel has no duty to remind opposing counsel of the expert certification deadline, and an adversary’s silence cannot excuse missing the statutory deadline by three months. The defendant’s relative lack of prejudice alone is insufficient to establish good cause. The plaintiffs’ expert is prohibited from testifying … We remand the case for the district court to determine in the first instance whether these plaintiffs’ claims require expert testimony to avoid summary judgment.”
The dissenting opinion stated, in part: “on the whole, the district court acted well within its discretion. Unlike the majority, it faithfully applied the multi-factor approach reflected in our precedents such as Kirlin, Nedved, Hantsbarger v. Coffin, and Hill v. McCartney. This does not mean that it would have been an abuse of discretion for the district court to deny the additional time; only that no abuse occurred when it granted it. See, e.g., State v. Williams, 929 N.W.2d 621, 633 (Iowa 2019) (finding no abuse of discretion in declining to give a requested jury instruction while adding that “[t]his does not mean, of course, that it would have been an abuse of discretion to use [the instruction]”); Walker v. Scofield, 39 Iowa 666, 23 668 (1874) (finding no abuse of discretion in denying a continuance even though “we might have granted it, if we had originally passed upon the application”).”
Source Wilson v. Shenandoah Medical Center, No. 23–0509.
If you or a loved one may have been harmed as a result of medical negligence in Iowa or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find an Iowa medical malpractice lawyer or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click on the “Contact Us Now” tab to the right, visit our website, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
