The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this medical malpractice case and its proceedings.)
It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General, California Pacific Medical Center, or St. Francis Memorial Hospital.
In this matter, Plaintiff is presenting expert, Steven Strong, M.D,. as her medical malpractice standard of care expert. Dr. Strong, however, is clearly unqualified to render standard of care opinions as to the conduct of Defendants in this matter. Specifically, in his deposition testimony, Dr. Strong demonstrated that he has absolutely no knowledge of how chiropractors, such as Dr. Davis, conduct themselves on a day to day basis, nor does he have any training in chiropractics or have contact with chiropractors, to have any familiarity of the standard of care that governs that field of medicine. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
In deposition, Dr. Strong testified on June 8, 2008 and his second session on August 6, 2008, that he does not read any chiropractic journals. Further, Dr. Strong was unable to name any chiropractor that he has referred his patients to, which was also minimal. Moreover, he is not a member of any chiropractic organization. Dr. Strong has never practiced as a chiropractor. Dr. Strong has never gone to chiropractic school. He has never been taught any chiropractic techniques used to reduce subluxations. He has never used any chiropractic techniques to treat subluxations. He is not aware of any of the names of techniques used by chiropractors to correct subluxations.
He admitted that he is not an expert on chiropractic school because he never attended chiropractic school. He states that the main method by which he apparently learned about the practice of chiropractics in through reading reports for his patients.
Based upon the above testimony, it is clear that Dr. Strong meets none of the criteria provided in the case law as providing foundation for any testimony from him related to the standard of care for chiropractors. Dr. Strong is an orthopedic surgeon. He may have gone to medical school, however, his medical school curriculum did not include a course in chiropractics. Moreover, in order to become a chiropractor, you do not attend medical school, you need to attend chiropractic school. Accordingly, although Dr. Strong could, hypothetically, decide to practice plastic surgery and hang his shingle to perform plastic surgery with his medical license, it would be illegal for him to hang his shingle and practice in the field of chiropractics based solely on his medical doctor license. Accordingly, from the above, it is clear that Dr. Strong has no connection to the field of Defendants in this matter. Thus, he is unqualified to testify as an expert on the field of chiropractics and the standard of care related to that field. Based upon the above, Defendants respectfully request that Plaintiff’s expert, Dr. Strong, be precluded from offering any standard of care testimony in this matter. (See Part 8 of 9.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.