Personal Injury Law

Medical Malpractice Missouri: Injury Plaintiff's Expert Qualifications

By Benjamin J. Sansone, Esq.

In any Missouri or Illinois medical malpractice or health care negligence related case, it is imperative for a personal injury attorney to retain a medical expert witness that can validate the Plaintiff?s claim of health care provider negligence. It is also essential to find a viable medical expert within the specialized medical field pertaining to the claim.

Under Missouri injury law the definition of a ?legally qualified health care provider? came in to question in Missouri medical negligence lawsuit, Spradling v. SSM Health Care.

In 1986 the health care affidavit statue (Missouri Statute - 538.225) was first put into place to prevent plaintiffs from submitting expert opinions from providers who had no clear experiential correlation to the procedure in question. However, it did not clearly define ?legally qualified?. In 2005, legislation was passed that stated a legally qualified health care provider is one who is ?either actively practicing or within five years of retirement from actively practicing substantially the same specialty as the defendant?. By adding to the original bill, they recognized that the Missouri medical expert?s opinion may come from a medical expert that does not necessarily have the exact same board certification as the doctor in question. As a St Louis injury lawyer, selection of an expert is absolutely one of the most vital steps in bringing a St Louis medical malpractice action and can make or break a case.

Experts only need to practice ?substantially the same specialty?, as many of the same medical procedures are not isolated to one board certification. According to Missouri House Bill 393, all you must prove is that your medical negligence expert has adequate knowledge and experience performing the same specialized skill.

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Law Blog on November 23, 2010 (boomark / email).