The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday sent a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a Pine Bluff doctor back to Jefferson County Circuit Court with instructions to submit more information.
The lawsuit was filed by attorney Risie Howard, the administrator of the estate of the late Mrs. George Howard Jr. against Dr. John Harris, the primary care doctor for the late Mrs. Howard.
According to the appeals court, the estate filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2021 against Baptist Health, A.K.A. Baptist Home Health Network, an insurance company and three defendants but said the federal lawsuit was dropped a few days later. However, no dismissal order from that lawsuit was submitted with the appeal.
The estate then filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court, and while that case was pending, also filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court.
A motion by Dr. Harris to dismiss the Jefferson County case was approved by Special Judgxe Robert Bynum Gibson Jr., and the estate appealed that action.
State law prohibits the filing of identical cases in different jurisdictions but the estate contends the cases are different. However, the complaint for the Pulaski County case was not included in the appeal and writing for the Court of Appeals, Judge Waymond Brown said “such evidence is essential to our complete and thorough review of the issues on appeal. Without the Pulaski County complaint, we are unable to determine whether the parties and/or claims were identical in the two pending cases.”
Brown gave the estate 15 days to supplement the appeal record.
