WRITING MANUAL - Supreme Court - State of Ohio

her for over four hours, appellants proffered the testimony of
John Q. Public, M.D., a specialist in internal medicine at
Fictitious, who taught nurses at the hospital. He also consulted
with the nursing staff on a guide to nursing practices and
protocols. The trial court refused to permit Dr. Public to testify
on the grounds that he was unqualified to offer an expert opinion
on the applicable standard of care for a registered nurse.
{ 10} “The admissibility of expert testimony is a matter
committed to the discretion of the trial court, and the court’s
ruling will not be overturned absent an abuse of that discretion.”
In re Carmody, 000 Ohio St.3d 111, 2004-Ohio-0000, 000
N.E.2d 4433, 11.
{ 11} It is a general rule that in order to testify as an expert
on the standard of care in a given school of medicine, the witness
must be licensed in that field. Bolt v. Surgeons, Inc., 000 Ohio
St.3d 800, 812, 000 N.E.2d 1235 (1985). Once that licensure has
been established, the trial court has discretion to determine
whether the witness is qualified to testify as an expert regarding
the standard of care. Brockmeier v. Fedders, 000 Ohio St.3d 677,
2008-Ohio-0000, 000 N.E.2d 1311, 25.
{ 12} The rationale behind this licensure requirement is that
This paragraph shows
the formatting of a
block quote.
different schools of medicine have varying procedures,
practices, and treatments, and it would be unfair for a
practitioner of one school to judge the care and skill of
a practitioner of another. Bolt at 813. Thus, a specialist
in radiology cannot testify on the standard of care for a
general surgeon, nor can an orthopedist testify on the
standard for a neurologist.
Lopez v. Pediatric Ctr., 000 Ohio St.3d 929, 2009-Ohio-0000,
000 N.E.2d 933, 33.
{ 13} These are well-settled principles. But no Ohio court
has ever addressed the issue presented here: whether a physician
of any stripe may testify as an expert on the standard of care
applicable to a nurse. We therefore look to our sister states for
guidance.
{ 14} The clear majority of states hold that physicians are
not qualified to offer an expert opinion on the standard of care
for nurses or on whether a nurse has deviated from that standard.
Bristow v. Scanlon, 000 Cal.Rptr.3d 1111, 1114, 000 P.3d 2222
(2002) (citing cases); Verhoff v. Neurological Assoc., 000
N.Y.S.3d 12, 15-16, 000 N.E.2d 3333 (2006) (citing cases);
Jones, Physician, Judge Thyself: The Growing Trend Toward
Limiting Physician Opinion Testimony, 000 S.W.J.Med.Litig. 40,
66-71 (1999). Physicians are not licensed in nursing. To allow
The Supreme Court of Ohio 142 Writing Manual