Medical Malpractice and Medical Experts
Medical Malpraqctice Expert Witness Maryland
An attorney could have every word of the law books memorized, a high percentage of won cases and favorable settlements, and a thriving practice and satisfied client base, but what the vast majority of lawyers don’t have is a medical degree. So how does alawyer, with no background in medicine, successfully try a medical malpractice case? How can a lawyer who never spent a day in medical school cross-examine a doctor or surgeon who did pre-med in college, then medical school, then between three to eight years of residency depending on the medical specialty, and then any number of years in practice?
The answer is that the attorney talks to someone else who did pre-med in college, then medical school, then between three to eight years of residency depending on the specialty, and then any number of years in practice. In other words, the attorney gets his own doctor as an expert medical witness.
But not just any doctor will do. The attorney has to find someone with impeccable credentials in medicine and a specialty in the area in which the doctor named in the law suit has made the medical error. In other words, if the malpractice law suit is about a medical surgical error, it would do no good at all to consult a psychiatrist or an oncologist. This isn’t just smart legal practice, but is also a part of Maryland law.
An expert witness in a Maryland medical malpractice case must have clinical experience in the field where the mistake happened. “Clinical experience” means actual work with patients. A doctor who spends every minute in the lab doing research can’t be considered an expert when it comes to a medical opinion involving a deviation from the standard of care in a medical malpractice law suit.
There is also a specific time frame involved in that clinical experience. The witness must have actively practiced medicine with patients in the specific area that the trial is about, and he must have practiced within five years prior to the date of his testimony. Advances in medicine happen so quickly that medical procedures that were common five years ago can be obsolete today, so the more current the experience of the expert witness the better.
Another very important rule for expert witnesses in Maryland medical malpractice cases is the amount of time spent actually being an expert witness. A doctor or surgeon testifying in a medical malpractice case can spend no more than twenty percent of his or her time being an expert witness. Maryland wants to avoid “professional witnesses,” mainly because someone who makes a living out of testifying in court cases doesn’t actually have time to be an actual expert in the field of medicine. Also, the idea of someone testifying for a living could lead to ethical problems. Offering testimony because it’s the right thing to do is one thing, but offering testimony because you need to do it for a paycheck is quite another.
At Greenberg and Bederman, we routinely consult with some of the best medical minds in the country on our medical malpractice cases, and we are very rigorous in following Maryland guidelines when it comes to utilizing their expertise. If you or a loved one has been injured due to the professional negligence of a medical professional, contact Greenberg and Bederman for a free medical malpractice legal consultation today.
To learn more about medical malpractice issues, please read our medical malpractice website. To learn more about our medical malpractice lawyer, John Sellinger, please read his bio or watch his medical malpractice video.
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