PHOENIX — An Arizona law "abolishes" a patient's right to file a certain type of litigation against health care providers for allegations of negligence, the state supreme court ruled Friday.

After a lower court dismissed a patient's lawsuit against the Mayo Clinic, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed the decision and sent the case back for further proceedings.

The case involves a patient who was hospitalized for COVID-19 in April 2020. In a lawsuit filed a few months later, the patient alleged that health care staff negligently performed a test ordered as part of his treatment.

The case was initially dismissed after the lower court referenced an Arizona law and determined that the plaintiff has a higher evidentiary standard to prove the hospital acted with gross negligence. That law re

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