Appeals court issues two rulings in Wyer v. Alamance Regional Medical Center

The North Carolina Court of Appeals in No. COA22-320 reversed a September 2021 trial-court dismissal of the Estate of Henry Wyer’s negligence claim against Alamance Regional Medical Center and remanded that claim to Alamance County Superior Court, while affirming dismissal of a breach-of-contract claim. Judge Hunter Murphy authored the 13-page opinion filed December 29, 2022, with Judges Chris Dillon and Lucy Inman listed as concurring.

Plaintiffs are captioned as the Estate of Henry Wyer, by co-administrators Benita Wyer and Lamont Wyer in the appellate papers; local reporting has at times referred to Brenda Wyer. The pleadings allege that on May 11, 2018 Henry Wyer and his daughter signed a Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment MOST form indicating “full scope of treatment,” including attempted resuscitation and transfer, prior to a scheduled surgery. Alamance News reported the hospital did not attempt resuscitation and that Wyer died at the hospital before the scheduled procedure; the appellate record, as summarized on FindLaw, notes the pleadings “do not disclose much” about the exact sequence of events that day.

At trial, visiting superior court judge Kevin M. Bridges of Stanly County dismissed the negligence claim on the ground plaintiffs had not provided expert certification, a dismissal the appeals panel found to be error on the negligence theory. The appeals court concluded the plaintiffs had pleaded facts that invoked res ipsa loquitur, which “allows negligence to be inferred from the circumstances surrounding the case without requiring expert testimony.” The court therefore vacated the dismissal of negligence and remanded for further proceedings in Alamance County.

The appeals court separately affirmed dismissal of the plaintiffs’ breach-of-contract claim tied to the MOST form, finding that the claim was essentially an action for medical malpractice. As Judge Murphy wrote in the opinion, a plaintiff cannot recover damages “under a breach of contract theory for what is, in reality, an action for medical malpractice.” That ruling leaves the contract-based route closed, while preserving the negligence path the estate may pursue on remand.

Appellate counsel listed in the opinion are Kya Johnson of Kenneth M. Johnson, Attorney, P.A. for the plaintiffs-appellants and J. Dennis Bailey of Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC for Alamance Regional Medical Center, Inc., which does business as Cone Health Alamance Regional Medical Center. The appellate docket shows an argument date entry of September 6, 2022 with no oral argument by Rule 30(f), bond collected of $250 on April 25, 2022, and the case closed on January 18, 2023; the Leagle header cites reporter citation 881 S.E.2d 759 (2022).

Separately, an unpublished Court of Appeals entry identified as COA25-693 was reported filed February 18, 2026, but the text and holdings of that Feb. 18, 2026 entry have not been provided publicly. As of the December 29, 2022 opinion, the negligence claim was reinstated and returned to Alamance County for further proceedings; the published opinion and the reported 2026 filing together underscore unresolved questions about how hospitals in Alamance County document and implement MOST and DNR decisions and the legal standards that will govern families seeking accountability.