Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Law Limiting Expert Testimony In Medical Malpractice Suits

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 19 Mar 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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The Arizona Supreme Court on Friday ruled 4-1 to uphold a 2005 law allowing state lawmakers to limit who qualifies as an expert witness for patients in medical malpractice lawsuits, the Arizona Daily Star reports. The statute states that anyone who wants to testify as an expert witness against a physician in a medical malpractice lawsuit must be licensed as a health care provider, a specialist in the same area as the defendant, and actively practicing or teaching in that area.

The Court of Appeals in 2008 ruled that the teaching or practicing requirement was unconstitutional because the rules of evidence enacted by the Supreme Court said that an expert witness must be qualified "by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education." The state Supreme Court justices noted that generally they have the constitutional right to decide the rules governing how trials are conducted, but that the Legislature can enact "substantive" policy changes dictating what plaintiffs who file civil suits must prove to win their cases (Fischer, Arizona Daily Star, 3/15).

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