12/04/06 (FL):
Florida Supreme Court: Expert can't rely on others' views
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Florida physicians who testify as medical experts will need to watch their words until they see the effect of a recent ruling on expert testimony.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that medical experts cannot base opinions on consultations with colleagues or other experts when they testify about the standard of care in medical liability cases.
Such second hand testimony would amount to hearsay, the high court said in its Nov. 2 ruling. That could mislead a jury into believing that the witness' opinion has the approval of others in the field who themselves may not be qualified experts, justices concluded.
"Referring to consultations with other experts creates the danger of bolstering the credibility of the testifying expert's opinion without providing the opposing party the ability to effectively cross-examine the expert as to the basis for the opinion," Justice Barbara J. Pariente wrote for the majority.
Florida laws require medical experts to base their testimony on their own education, training and experience, justices said.
Physicians say the ruling sends mixed signals. They are pushing for higher quality medical expert testimony based on the accepted standard of care.
On the one hand, the court's standard will help filter out unqualified, "hired gun" experts whose only basis for testimony might be unfounded opinions, said Jeff Scott, associate general counsel to the Florida Medical Assn.
On the other hand, consulting other physicians "seems a perfectly logical type of analysis if you want to know what the community standard is to ask what people are doing," he said.
Watch this space…….
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