Case Summary:

Harold R. Berk injured his ankle while visiting Delaware and went to Beebe Medical Center for treatment, where he was seen by Dr. Wilson Choy and other providers for what was diagnosed as a fracture that did not require immediate surgery. Hospital staff placed his leg in a boot and, in the course of doing so, allegedly twisted and aggravated the fracture, after which Berk was discharged with instructions to avoid bearing weight and to return for follow‑up care. At a follow‑up visit about a month later at Dr. Choy’s office, new X‑rays allegedly revealed that Berk’s ankle had become severely deformed, now requiring surgery, and Berk contends that this worsening resulted from negligent diagnosis, communication, and treatment by Dr. Choy and the hospital staff.

Berk, a citizen of another state, then filed a diversity medical‑malpractice action in federal district court in Delaware against Dr. Choy and Beebe Medical Center under Delaware substantive law. Delaware law requires that a medical‑malpractice complaint be accompanied by an affidavit of merit from a qualified expert, but Berk did not file such an affidavit and instead submitted medical records, arguing that the state’s affidavit requirement should not apply in federal court. The district court dismissed his case for failure to comply with the affidavit‑of‑merit statute, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed, holding that the Delaware requirement applied and warranted dismissal of his malpractice suit. The issue before the Supreme Court in Berk v. Choy was whether a federal court sitting in diversity and adjudicating a state‑law medical‑malpractice claim must apply a state “affidavit of merit” or expert‑affidavit requirement at the pleading stage, or instead follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure alone. More specifically, the question was whether Delaware’s statute requiring plaintiffs to attach a supporting expert affidavit to a malpractice complaint conflicts with and is displaced by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8 and 12 (and related rules) when the case is filed in federal court.