Donald B. Bedell Little Rock Healthcare 1, Inc. D/b/a Little Rock Healthcare & Rehab and Heartland Personnel…

Summary

The court dismissed the negligence claim against Bedell because he had no personal duty to Valentine, holding that neither the governing-body regulation nor LRHC's internal policy created a tort duty. It reversed the judgment against LRHC and Heartland and remanded for a new trial because the circuit court improperly excluded post-discharge medical evidence relevant to causation and committed additional instructional and evidentiary errors. The court also held that LRHC's nurses were covered by the statutory privilege against compelled expert testimony, that the Residents' Rights Act instruction improperly omitted causation, and that the spoliation instruction lacked evidentiary support.