Before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, a Florida medical malpractice plaintiff must “conduct an investigation to ascertain that there are reasonable grounds to believe that” the prospective defendant “was negligent in the care or treatment of the” prospective plaintiff and that the “negligence resulted in injury to the” prospective plaintiff. § 766.203(2). The reasonable grounds must be corroborated by “submission of a verified written medical expert opinion from a medical expert as defined in [section] 766.202(6).”
Section 766.202(6) defines “[m]edical expert” as “a person duly and regularly engaged in the practice of his or her
profession who holds a health care professional degree from a university or college and who meets the requirements of an expert witness as set forth in [section] 766.102.”
Section 766.102 provides that “[a] person may not give expert testimony concerning the prevailing professional
standard of care unless the person is a health care provider who holds an active and valid license and conducts a complete review of the pertinent medical records and meets [certain] criteria . . . . ” § 766.102(5), Fla. Stat. (2016). These certain criteria depend on the type of health care provider “against whom . . . the testimony is offered.”
Section 766.102(5)(a) lists criteria for a specialist, while section 766.102(5)(b) lists criteria for a general practitioner. If the prospective defendant is a specialist and not a general practitioner, “the expert witness must . . . [s]pecialize in the same specialty.” § 766.102(5)(a)1. Neither specialty nor specialist is defined in chapter 766.
In a Florida medical malpractice case decided on September 5, 2025 by the District Court of Appeal of Florida Second District, the plaintiff attached to the notice of intent an affidavit of Joshua M. Willis, M.D., who is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and interventional cardiology. The defendant pulmonologist moved to dismiss, arguing that the presuit notice of intent served by the plaintiff failed to comply with the presuit requirements of chapter 766 because the defendant is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, and critical care medicine and has worked in pulmonary medicine, who consulted in the plaintiff’s care at the hospital in his capacity as a critical care pulmonologist.
The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, determining that the plaintiff’s expert and the defendant specialize in the same specialty—internal medicine—and that pulmonology is a subspecialty of internal medicine. The defendant appealed.
The Florida appellate Court held: “Here, Dr. Ghamra was the pulmonologist who saw Mr. Williams in response to the request for a pulmonology consultation. Based on the clear language of sections 766.102(1) and (5), the prevailing professional standard of care concerns pulmonology … Ms. Williams was required to provide an affidavit concerning the prevailing professional standard of care for pulmonology from an expert who specializes in the same specialty:
pulmonology … Because we conclude that the specialty in this case is pulmonology, we must also conclude that the affidavit of Dr. Willis is legally insufficient and that Dr. Ghamra and Lung Associates’ motion to dismiss should have been granted.”
Source Ghamra, M.D. v. Williams, No. 2D2024-2585.
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