Maryland Appellate Court Rules Medical Malpractice Plaintiff Not Entitled To File Supplemental Certificate Of Qualified Expert

Supplemental Certificates of Qualified Experts (CQEs) in Maryland medical malpractice cases are governed by CJP § 3-2A-06D, which provides in relevant part:

(b)(1) Within 15 days after the date that discovery is required to be completed, a party shall file with the court a supplemental certificate of a qualified expert, for each defendant, that attests to:
(i) The certifying expert’s basis for alleging what is the specific standard of care;
(ii) The certifying expert’s qualifications to testify to the specific standard of care;
(iii) The specific standard of care;

(iv) For the plaintiff:

1. The specific injury complained of;
2. How the specific standard of care was breached;
3. What specifically the defendant should have done to meet the specific standard of care; and
4. The inference that the breach of the standard of care proximately caused the plaintiff’s injury; and

(v) For the defendant:

1. How the defendant complied with the specific standard of care;
2. What the defendant did to meet the specific standard of care; and
3. If applicable, that the breach of the standard of care did not proximately cause the plaintiff’s injury.

(2) An extension of the time allowed for filing a supplemental certificate under this section shall be granted for good cause shown.
(3) The facts required to be included in the supplemental certificate of a qualified expert shall be considered necessary to show entitlement to relief sought by a plaintiff or to raise a defense by a defendant.

The Appellate Court of Maryland held in its unpublished Opinion dated September 5, 2024: “Appellant was not entitled to file a supplemental CQE under CJP § 3-2A-06D. As the circuit court observed, a supplemental CQE is intended to permit a party to correct a CQE in the event that they were unable to obtain certain information, such as the names of
specific health care providers, until the completion of discovery. But that circumstance did not apply here, because the deficiencies in appellant’s CQE were entirely within his own knowledge and involved the identity and qualifications of his own expert. By the time the circuit court convened the hearing, on October 28, 2022, more than a year had elapsed from when appellant filed his non-compliant CQE. The circuit court properly concluded that appellant failed to show good cause for a further extension of time. The “‘failure to file a proper certificate is tantamount to not having filed a certificate at all.’””

Source A.C. v. Kennedy Krieger Children’s Hospital, Inc., No. 1922 September Term, 2022.

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