Mary Margaret Upchurch suffered paralysis in her legs following a surgery performed at Merit Health Rankin by Dr. Adam Lewis, a neurosurgeon with Jackson Neurosurgery Clinic PLLC (“Jackson Neurosurgery”). Mary and her husband, Rickie, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against multiple defendants, including Dr. Lewis, Jackson Neurosurgery, and Merit Health Rankin. After settling their claims against Merit Health Rankin, the Upchurches proceeded to trial against only Dr. Lewis and Jackson Neurosurgery.
A Mississippi medical malpractice jury found that Dr. Lewis was not negligent in his care and treatment of Mary and returned a verdict in favor of Dr. Lewis and Jackson Neurosurgery. The circuit court entered a judgment on the verdict and dismissed with prejudice all charges against Dr. Lewis and Jackson Neurosurgery. The circuit court subsequently entered an order denying the Upchurches’ post-trial motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or, alternatively, a new trial. The Upchurches appealed.
The Court of Appeals of the State of Mississippi held in its decision dated September 23, 2025: “we find, in light of the substantial credible evidence the Upchurches presented through their fact and expert witnesses, there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict in favor of Dr. Lewis and Jackson Neurosurgery. Dr. Lewis’s own testimony constituted the only evidence that the medical device he implanted during Mary’s surgery was compatible with another manufacturer’s previously implanted medical device and that his decision to “mix and match” different manufacturers’ medical equipment complied with the standard of care.”
“After reviewing the record, we cannot find that Dr. Lewis was ever tendered or accepted as an expert witness, and any testimony he gave regarding the standard of care was improperly admitted. Dr. Lewis was the sole witness to testify that mixing and matching different manufacturers’ medical equipment complied with the standard of care. By contrast, the Upchurches presented multiple expert witnesses who testified that performing Mary’s surgery with only a different manufacturer’s medical device available breached the standard of care. In light of this and the substantial evidence that the Upchurches provided as to the standard of care and Dr. Lewis’s negligence in causing Mary’s injuries, we find that insufficient evidence supported the jury’s verdict. As a result, we conclude that the circuit court erred by denying the Upchurches’ post-trial motion for JNOV.”
The Mississippi appellate court held: “Generally, when the issue on appeal involves nothing more than a battle of conflicting expert testimony, the appellate courts will decline to reverse a fact finder’s determinations as to the weight and credibility to be assigned to each expert’s testimony … After viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Dr. Lewis and Jackson Neurosurgery, though, we cannot find that any credible, properly admitted evidence contradicted the Upchurches’ substantial fact and expert testimony showing that Dr. Lewis operated on Mary without the appropriate medical equipment available to him and that this decision not only breached the standard of care he owed to Mary but also caused her injuries. As a result, we conclude that no legally sufficient evidence could support the jury’s verdict finding Dr. Lewis was not negligent. We therefore reverse the circuit court’s order denying the Upchurches’ motion that they were entitled to JNOV due to the insufficiency of the evidence supporting the verdict.”
Source Upchurch v. Lewis, M.D., No. 2023-CA-01296-COA.
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