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Mitzell v. Glover3/20/2000
ion of the law appears to support the adoption of a national standard of care throughout the health care system."() "Under a national standard, the appropriate comparative analysis must consider the physician by specialty, educational level, medical environment, and any factor which is relevant to sound medical practice."()
Dr. Buckholz testified that he was able to evaluate the standard of care of a podiatrist practicing anywhere in the United States. The Mizells were free to cross-examine Dr. Buckholz as to the basis of any of his opinions and did so in depth.
Moreover, Dr. Buckholz testified a podiatrist's scope of practice deals with the level of treatment a podiatrist is licensed to provide. Unlike the standard of care, which is national and is based on what a competent physician would have done under like circumstances and conditions, the scope of practice is limited by the state.
That Dr. Buckholz was not familiar with the scope of practice in South Carolina is of no moment because there was no allegation Dr. Glover's treatment exceeded his scope of practice. Furthermore, any defects in the amount or quality of Dr. Buckholz's experience go to the weight of his testimony, not its admissibility.()
AFFIRMED.
CONNOR, J., concurs in part in a separate opinion.
HOWARD, J., concurs except as to Part I, in which he concurs with CONNOR, J.
CONNOR, J., (concurring). I concur with the lead opinion except as to Part I, with which I concur in result only. Therefore, I address Part I separately.
At trial, the Mizells filed a motion in limine. They argued the court should prohibit examination of Dr. Marne about a previous lawsuit involving Dr. Marne. The sole argument in support of the motion was that the final judgment in the previous case did not address the issue of whether Dr. Marne had committed fraud.
The trial judge ruled Respondents could cross-examine Dr. Marne about the previous lawsuit and thereby attempt to impeach his credibility under Rule 608, SCRE. During the ensuing cross-examination, Respondents' attorney confronted Dr. Marne with the jury interrogatory from the previous lawsuit.
The Mizells argue on appeal that the trial court erred by allowing the introduction of the jury interrogatory. However, their motion in limine merely sought to prevent mention of Dr. Marne's previous lawsuit. There was no objection when Respondents' counsel confronted Dr. Marne with the jury interrogatory. Specifically, the Mizells did not argue to the trial court that extrinsic evidence was inadmissible to prove Dr. Marne's untrustworthiness. See Rule 608(b), SCRE. Therefore, the issue was neither raised to nor ruled upon by the trial court, and whether the jury interrogatory was extrinsic evidence and therefore not permitted under Rule 608(b), SCRE, is not an issue that can be addressed by this court. Wilder Corp. v. Wilke, 330 S.C. 71, 497 S.E.2d 731 (1998).
Even if the jury interrogatory was extrinsic evidence and therefore inadmissible under Rule 608(b), SCRE, the error was harmless in light of Dr. Marne's prior testimony. When asked whether he had "deliberately and knowingly made material misrepresentation to an insurance company to obtain benefits under a policy of insurance," Dr. Marne responded, "That is correct." This admission was virtually identical to the jury interrogatory at issue.
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