Can a defense lawyer contact someone affiliated with your treating doctor’s medical group and use them as an expert witness against you? No, they cannot, according to a recent Appellate Division decision in Carchidi v. Iavicoli, 2010 N.J. Super. LEXIS 46, decided March 24, 2010. In Carchidi, the infant plaintiff was born three months premature
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Generally speaking, when a plaintiff in New Jersey sues a board-certified medical specialist, an Affidavit of Merit is required to be served by the plaintiff’s attorney from a board-certified physician who is in the same specialty as the defendant(s) being sued. New Jersey’s Affidavit of Merit Statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-27, et .seq. requires that, but only
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In most medical malpractice cases filed in New Jersey, an Affidavit of Merit is required from a healthcare professional specialist in the same field of practice as the defendant that is being sued. For example, in a suit against an obstetrician, one would need an Affidavit of Merit from a practicing obstetrician. In a suit
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Hospital Errors to be Reported; Hospitals Prohibited from Charging for Certain Errors New Jersey Patient Safety New Jersey recently passed a bill aimed at improving healthcare and patient’s rights. Entitled “An Act Concerning Patient Safety,” the measure requires the Department of Health and Human Services to be notified of certain patient safety “indicators” (or possible
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“Learned treatise” may be used to cross-examine an expert even if he or she does not recognize the publications as an “authority” It’s not uncommon during the trial of any medical malpractice case for a lawyer to try and cross-examine an opposing expert witness with a medical publication, or “learned treatise,” that contradicts or refutes
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