Public Policy Group Files Brief in Support of Expert Testimony on Causation in Medical Malpractice Action

Public Policy Group partners Cary Silverman and Phil Goldberg have filed an amici brief in the Kentucky Supreme Court in a medical malpractice case examining the need for expert testimony to establish that a doctor deviated from the standard of care in monitoring for signs of a stroke after a medical procedure. The case involves a patient’s claim that expert testimony is not necessary because it is “common knowledge” that any delay in detection of a stroke causes or exacerbates a patient’s injury. The Kentucky Court of Appeals agreed with the patient, finding that the “common knowledge” exception to expert causation testimony applied. 

The amici brief, filed on behalf of the American Medical Association and the Kentucky Medical Association, explains that expert testimony is critical to the ability of a jury to properly evaluate whether a patient’s injuries were caused by an underlying medical condition, a known risk or complication of treatment, or a deviation from the standard of care. Relieving plaintiffs of the need to present expert testimony and instead asking jurors to apply “common knowledge” to evaluating medical negligence and causation is likely to result in claims decided with hindsight bias and speculation, not science.  

The case is Ashland Hosp. Corp. v. Lewis, No. 2018-SC-276 (Ky.).