Miller v. Carolina Coast Emergency Physicians, LLC

Summary

The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision upholding the denial of Harnett Health’s Rule 9(j) motion to dismiss and reversing the exclusion of Dr. Harris’s expert testimony. For a facially compliant complaint, Rule 9(j) compliance is assessed from the information reasonably available to the plaintiff when the complaint was filed, and later deposition testimony does not control. The Court also held that appellate review of Rule 702 rulings involves abuse-of-discretion review for the evidentiary determination and de novo review for underlying legal standards.