In Roman v. Lahey, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 02-469-24), the Massachusetts medical malpractice plaintiff alleged that his knee replacement surgery was negligently performed. However, the plaintiff failed to disclose an expert who supported his medical malpractice allegations.
The court stated: “Plaintiff Angel Roman (‘Plaintiff’ or ‘Mr. Roman’) brought this action against Philip Lahey, Jr., MD, (‘Dr. Lahey’) and Worcester County Orthopedics (‘Worcester County Orthopedics’) (collectively, ‘Defendants’) alleging various claims of medical negligence. …
“On May 22, 2018, Mr. Roman, after consulting with Dr. Lahey, underwent a left total knee replacement surgery performed by Dr. Lahey and assisted by Christopher Chow, PA at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester. …
“This is an action asserting claims centering on medical malpractice. The complaint alleges that Dr. Lahey, an orthopedic surgeon, acted improperly and deviated from the standard of care in his medical treatment of the plaintiff, Angel Roman. …”
Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Laws
To prevail on a claim of medical malpractice, a plaintiff must establish the applicable standard of care and demonstrate both that a defendant physician breached that standard, and that this breach caused the patient’s harm. The proper standard is whether the physician, if a general practitioner, has exercised the degree of care and skill of the average qualified practitioner, taking into account the advances in the profession. A specialist should be held to the standard of care and skill of the average member of the profession practicing the specialty, taking into account the advances in the profession. Because the standard of care is based on the care that the average qualified physician would provide in similar circumstances, the actions that a particular physician, no matter how skilled, would have taken are not determinative.
Establishing the applicable standard of care typically requires expert testimony. It is only in exceptional cases that a jury may without the aid of expert medical opinion determine whether the conduct of a physician toward a patient is violative of the special duty which the law imposes. In determining whether an expert is qualified to testify regarding the proper standard of care, the crucial issue is whether the witness has sufficient education, training, experience and familiarity with the subject matter of the testimony. Source
“In this case, Plaintiff’s medical malpractice claim requires expert testimony to proceed. Claims of medical negligence require expert testimony on behalf of the plaintiff in almost every instance in order to prevail. … Proving whether his knee replacement surgery conformed to the medical standard of care would require expert testimony as to what the applicable standard of care is regarding knee replacement surgery and whether Dr. Lahey’s actions fell below that standard. It is undisputed that Plaintiff has not disclosed an expert of any kind. Nor is this a situation ‘where the alleged malpractice is so gross or obvious that jurors can rely on their common knowledge and experience to recognize or infer negligence based on the facts presented.’ … Accordingly, because Plaintiff will be unable to prove the medical standard of care required for his claims, the claims must be dismissed.”
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of surgical negligence in Massachusetts or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Massachusetts medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your surgical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a surgical medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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