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Broehm v. Rochester1/20/2005
sclosure, but only Wick's qualification to give an expert opinion.
The foregoing discussion of Sorenson and Lindberg and the following discussion of Cornfeldt, in addition to our holdings in Strand and Anderson, clearly delineate our precedent and undermine the majority's undue reliance on Teffeteller, a 3-2 decision of our court. The majority overstates the requirements of Minn. Stat. ยง 145.682, subd. 4(a), when it states that a plaintiff must "strictly satisfy" the requirements of the statute or face dismissal of her claim. Such a "strict" interpretation undermines the purpose of section 145.682 which is to establish an initial threshold of credibility for medical malpractice cases in order to eliminate frivolous claims and appears to conflict with Cornfeldt's standard for the qualification of expert opinion evidence; i.e., we do not limit expert opinion evidence to the one or few persons who are most qualified to give an expert opinion. Teffeteller cannot and should not be construed to impose such a requirement.
I am concerned that as a possible result of the majority's language, district courts may be tempted to be unduly vigilant in screening out cases at too early a stage as happened in the case before us. The following quotation articulates the problems with having a court determine the admissibility of expert opinions at too early a stage in the litigation:
Another problem with the expert opinion occurs when the testimony of the expert preparing the opinion must be admissible. It is difficult for trial courts very early in civil litigation to make such a determination. Regarding the trial court's "gatekeeping" responsibility in deciding upon the admissibility of expert scientific testimony, the U.S. Supreme Court has said: " he trial court judge must determine at the outset * * * whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid * * * whether that reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue." Such determinations at the outset of civil litigation are problematic because they may lead to excessive satellite litigation, as was often the case under the 1983 version of Federal Civil Procedure Rule 11. Additionally, the relevant factual issues may not have surfaced at such a preliminary stage.
Jefferey A. Parness & Amy Leonetti, Expert Opinion Pleading: Any Merit to Special Certificates of Merit? 1997 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 537, 586 (1997).
To be qualified to give an expert opinion in a medical malpractice case, a witness must have both sufficient scientific knowledge of and practical experience with the subject matter of the offered testimony. Cornfeldt v. Tongen, 262 N.W.2d 684, 692 (Minn. 1977). Those qualified to give expert opinion evidence are not limited to the one or the few persons who are most qualified to give an expert opinion. Christy v. Saliterman, 288 Minn. 144, 167, 179 N.W.2d 288, 303 (1970). Instead, a witness who has training or skills concerning a particular subject may be heard as an expert on that subject; the value of the testimony is tested by cross-examination and ultimately determined by the jury. Id. In Cornfeldt, we held it was error to exclude the testimony of a chief nurse anesthetist in a medical malpractice claim against doctors "solely because he was not a licensed physician or because he did not graduate from medical school and had received only the training of a registered nurse anesthetist." 262 N.W.2d at 697. We reasoned that if the nurse had otherwise sufficient scientific and practical experience about the subject of his testimony, he would have been competent to give an expert opinion. Id. Consequently, an expert's academic or experiential qualifications u
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