The New Jersey Appellate Division sent a medical malpractice claim back to the Ocean County Superior Court after a notice of a hearing posted to eCourts was inexplicably changed, causing the plaintiff to miss a filing date.
The plaintiff, Joan Vanucci, appealed a trial court order dismissing her medical malpractice complaint with prejudice for failure to provide an affidavit of merit (AOM) required under the New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act. The case, Vanucci v. Schenker, was originally filed in October 2021, and alleged that Dr. Samuel D. Schenker failed to timely refer Vanucci for a neurosurgical consult despite being diagnosed with a large posterior disc herniation, according to the opinion.
