Iowa appeals court ends Buena Vista Regional malpractice lawsuit

The Iowa Court of Appeals ended Amy Schmidt’s malpractice suit, ruling that her estate did not meet Iowa’s expert-certification requirements and that the defense did not waive its chance to challenge the filing. For Buena Vista Regional Medical Center and surgeon Jason M. Dierking, the decision cleared a lawsuit that had been moving through the courts for years after Schmidt’s death.

In an opinion filed Jan. 7, 2026, Judges Mary Tabor, Sharon Soorholtz Greer and Tyler Buller reversed Buena Vista County District Court Judge Nancy L. Whittenburg. Buller wrote the opinion in case No. 24-1840. The court said the estate, administered by Kevin Schmidt and also bringing claims for Brandon Schmidt and Courtney Schmidt, filed its malpractice petition in May 2022 and submitted a certificate of merit in July 2022, but still did not satisfy Iowa’s filing rules.

The core issue was simple in legal terms but fatal to the case: Iowa medical malpractice law requires a plaintiff to back the claim with a qualified expert statement that is sworn or signed under penalty of perjury. The estate relied on Pennsylvania colorectal surgeon Richard Goldstein, but the appellate panel concluded the filing did not meet that standard. Judge Whittenburg had previously allowed the case to survive in an Oct. 31, 2024 order, later made public Nov. 14, 2024, by finding the estate had substantially complied with Iowa Code section 147.140. The Court of Appeals rejected that view, citing the Iowa Supreme Court’s May 2024 Miller decision, which made clear that the certificate must be sworn or signed under penalty of perjury.

The appellate judges also said the hospital and Dierking waited 22 months after the certificate of merit was filed before moving for summary judgment, but that delay did not amount to a waiver of the defect. The court’s reversal and remand leaves the estate without a viable path forward in the case.

Amy Schmidt was 42 when she died on Oct. 5, 2020, after treatment at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines following emergency surgery at Buena Vista Regional for a small-bowel obstruction. Her estate alleged a ureter was severed during the operation and not repaired. The hospital denied negligence and pointed to a pre-existing condition.

For families in Buena Vista County, the ruling is a reminder that malpractice cases can turn on strict paperwork as much as the medical dispute itself. That makes Iowa a difficult place to pursue these claims, because a court can end a case before trial if the expert certification is not handled exactly right. Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, a critical-access hospital in Storm Lake, traces its origins to a 1945 gift from George G. Schaller and says its first patient was admitted in 1951.