New York Court of Appeals, 1985

Fiore v. Galang

New York Court of Appeals · Decided March 28, 1985

64 N.Y.2d 999; 478 N.E.2d 188; 489 N.Y.S.2d 47; 1985 N.Y. LEXIS 16687

Cases that cite this one

124 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Gibbs v. St. Barnabas Hospital (N.Y. 2010)
Davis v. United States (2d Cir. 2005)
Schoolcraft v. City of New York (District Court, S.D. New York 2015)
K.R. ex rel. Perez v. United States (District Court, E.D. New York 2012)
Lamarca v. United States (District Court, E.D. New York 1999)
Milano v. Freed (2d Cir. 1995)
Milano ex rel. Milano v. Freed (2d Cir. 1995)
Mosberg v. Elahi (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1991)
Bruestle-Kumra v. Abbott Laboratories (2d Cir. 2018)
Public Adm'r, as Adm'r of the Estate of Ronald Simpson v. Levine (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
LIN, KAI v. STRONG HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF DENTIS (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2011)
Kai Lin v. Strong Health (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2011)
Goldman v. City of New York (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)
Tolliver v. County of Nassau (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1996)
Clanton v. Vagianellis (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1993)
Murdock v. Center for Special Surgery (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1993)
Ward v. Hoffman (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1988)
Brice v. Westchester Community Health Plan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1988)
Bennett v. Sullivan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1986)
Courell v. Kurzner (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1986)
Ellis v. Urs (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1986)
Quigley v. Jabbur (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1986)
Jones v. Greuner (New York Supreme Court, New York County 2025)
G.T. v. United States (District Court, S.D. New York 2025)
Miranda v. New York-Presbyterian Hosp. (New York Supreme Court, New York County 2025)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.

We agree that absent a sufficient affidavit of merits it was error, as a matter of law, not to grant defendant Hospital’s motion for summary judgment (Kel Mgt. Corp. v Rogers & Wells, 64 NY2d 904; Canter v Mulnick, 60 NY2d 689; Stolowitz v Mount Sinai Hosp., 60 NY2d 685). Moreover, in light of plaintiffs’ argument that the verified complaint should be accepted as an *1001affidavit of merits (CPLR 105 [t]), we note that, except as to matters within the ordinary experience and knowledge of laymen, in a medical malpractice action, expert medical opinion evidence is required to demonstrate merit (cf. Meiselman v Crown Hgts. Hosp., 285 NY 389). This malpractice claim is for negligence in the failure to diagnose cancer and in the performance of an abdominal operation, which are not matters within the ordinary experience of laypersons.

Chief Judge Wachtler and Judges Jasen, Meyer, Simons, Kaye and Alexander concur.

On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 NYCRR 500.4), order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.