In what will be viewed by Philadelphia area medical malpractice lawyers as a welcome or dreaded decision, depending on whether the reader is a Philadelphia injury attorney for the plaintiff or for the defense, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has clarified who can testify as an expert on causation in nursing home and hospital negligence cases.
In a 4-2 majority opinion, the Court in Freed v. Geisinger Medical Center and
Healthsouth Corp., made it clear that the strict standards for expert testimony in a professional malpractice case under the MCare Act apply only when opinions are rendered against physicians.
In Freed, the majority written by Justice Debra Todd held that a person “need only possess greater expertise within the ordinary range of training, knowledge, intelligence, or experience” to qualify as an expert witness. Therefore, a nurse could offer her opinion that the care rendered by nurses was negligent, as it fell below the standard of care in the nursing profession AND that the negligent nursing care was the cause of injury and harm to the plaintiff.
In so ruling, the High Court expressly overruled the 1997 case of Flanagan v. Labe that had precluded such testimony as allegedly violative of the intent of the Legislature in promulgating the nursing licensing statute. This precedent was argued to be necessary in order to follow the dictates of the MCARE Act. Justice Todd declared that the express limitations of the MCARE Act had to be strictly construed and, since its language was limited to liability against physicians, it could not be extended to nurses in a case involving nursing care. Nevertheless, in a footnote Justice Todd emphasized that the current decision did not permit a nurse to act as an expert witness in medical professional liability cases against physicians.
This is an important case and will hopefully instruct the Bench and Bar on who may as an expert witness in a professional liability case and the strict construction that must be applied to the limitations imposed by the MCare Act in medical malpractice cases brought in Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania against physicians.
The Philadelphia injury lawyers at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis have been handling medical malpractice cases for decades and are here to evaluate your potential cases with free consultations, make an experienced review of appropriate records and secure appropriate expert witnesses to help you win your case throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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