Greedy Trial Lawyer
An Endangered Species - Plaintiff Medical Expert Witnesses
Category: Gaming The System
What the world needs now, apparently, is a restriction of expert testimony in medical malpractice cases to a pretty cozy group, the buddies of the defendant medical providers. A news story in the Tallahassee Democrat details the retribution that medical societies visited upon the plaintiff experts who dared to testify against Florida doctors ten years ago. Then, the story explains why it would even be better if no out-of-state doctor/expert were permitted to even show up in a Florida trial. I think the Florida Medical Association is not going far enough. Why not restrict the experts to only the immediate relatives or partners of the defendant providers?
Witnesses for hire: Faux experts foul the courtsNow the Florida Medical Association is pursuing legislative relief, saying that current law, which doesn't require expert medical witnesses to be licensed in Florida, invites experts to be brought in to testify, earn large fees for so doing, and yet not be held accountable.
Senate President Tom Lee is reportedly supporting some limitations. "You can find just about anybody to say anything within the bounds of reason on any given day if you're willing to pay them to come to Florida and testify," Lee told Florida Medical Business.
The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers has weighed in, too, with a spokesman calling the proposal, "cockamamie . . . another diabolical attempt by the FMA to cut down on medical malpractice cases."
Tallahassee attorney Scott Mitchell, who defends physicians in malpractice cases and participated in this one, said he couldn't be certain the law is needed.
"It's my job to show witnesses for what they are, and to try to get better experts who have good qualifications and to tell them we want honest opinions," he said. "Then it's the jury's job to discern whether witnesses are telling the truth."
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