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Broehm v. Rochester1/20/2005
sually go to the weight given to an opinion rather than to its admissibility. Ruether v. State, 455 N.W.2d 475, 477 (Minn. 1990).
B. Characterizing Broehm's Claim
As I proceed with this analysis, it is important to first identify the subject or claim that Wick's opinion was intended to support because a witness's qualification to give an expert opinion is inextricably linked to the witness's knowledge of or experience with a particular subject. See Cornfeldt, 262 N.W.2d at 692. Mayo has characterized Broehm's claim as being one for thoracic surgeon malpractice and argues that Wick is not qualified to give an expert opinion on a thoracic surgeon's duty of care to a tracheal resection patient. In its argument, Mayo emphasizes the danger of suffocation and death against which the head restraint is designed to safeguard. Mayo contends that the restraint, as an essential element of postoperative care, is an extension of the thoracic surgery and thus represents specialized care that only Dr. Pairolero could provide or supervise. Therefore, Mayo asserts, a nurse with Wick's training and experience is not qualified to give an expert opinion supporting a claim of thoracic surgeon malpractice.
In contrast, as developed in Wick's disclosure, Broehm's theory of the case focuses on the care and attention to the head restraint from the time it was constructed to the time Mayo staff discovered Broehm's injury two days later. Broehm characterizes her case as one of nursing or continuum of care malpractice. The testimony offered by Wick in the disclosure focuses on the claim that Broehm's injury was the result of skin necrosis from the restraint's pressure. One theory articulated by Wick is that the necrosis was caused by the application of adhesive tape to Broehm's forehead during the restraint's construction. Wick also articulates a second theory, in greater detail than the first, premised on an alleged duty of nursing staff to periodically inspect Broehm's skin under the restraint. According to this second theory, had Mayo's nursing staff properly inspected for skin integrity, Broehm's injury could have been prevented or could have been less severe. The district court apparently relied on Mayo's characterization of the case in assessing Wick's qualification to give an opinion on each of the four duties identified in the disclosure.
C. Thoracic Surgeon Malpractice
Such reliance may have been proper in evaluating Wick's qualification to give an opinion on the asserted duties of a failure to obtain Broehm's informed consent to the use of the restraint and a failure to construct a head restraint device that did not cause an injury . Based upon the record before us, I conclude these first two duties were within the province of the surgeon performing the procedure and the personnel supervising and constructing the specialized restraint. Therefore, I agree with the majority's holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it found Wick not qualified to give expert testimony in support of a claim based on the two foregoing duties of a thoracic surgeon.
D. Duty to Seek Specialty Care
The two other duties identified in the Wick disclosure--to inspect the restraint as if it were a dressing and to seek immediate specialty care once Broehm's injury was discovered--are not susceptible to a categorical pronouncement that Wick does not qualify as an expert. A duty to immediately seek specialty care may depend on the specific facts of a case. The duty may involve a nursing duty to properly respond to an injury as distinct from a physician's treatment decision. A duty to seek specialty care is a matter possibly within a nurse's practical tra
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