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Hinkley v. Koehler1/14/2005
t of malpractice at issue in order to have practiced in the defendant's specialty." Id. at 523, 593 S.E.2d at 314.
In contrast, the expert witness in Fairfax Hosp. Sys., Inc. v. Curtis, 249 Va. 531, 457 S.E.2d 66 (1995), did not qualify under the provisions of Code § 8.01-581.20(A) even though up until approximately two years prior to the alleged negligence forming the basis of that action he had worked as a professor of pediatrics and as medical director of a hospital's pediatric intensive care unit. Id. at 536-37, 457 S.E.2d at 70. The expert's work at the time of the alleged negligence, as the director of a service that transported sick and injured patients by helicopter, could not be deemed an active clinical practice. Id. at 537, 457 S.E.2d at 70.
Likewise in Perdieu, we held that two expert witnesses did not have an active clinical practice during the relevant statutory time period. 264 Va. at 419-20, 568 S.E.2d at 709-10. The alleged negligence forming the basis of that action concerned the care of nursing home patients, including the diagnosis of fractures. Id. at 420, 568 S.E.2d at 710. One of the experts had previously worked as the head of a hospital's emergency medicine department and had operated a "walk-in clinic for primary care." Id. at 413, 568 S.E.2d at 706. However, during the relevant time period, the expert had worked one day per week in a clinic and one day per week at a county's health department. He had not treated fractures or cared for nursing home patients. Id. at 420, 568 S.E.2d at 710. The other expert's prior experience had been in "the field of general practice," which had included the treatment of nursing home patients and fractures. Id. at 415, 568 S.E.2d at 707. However, since his retirement approximately eight years before the alleged negligence at issue in that case, the expert's only work in the medical field had been as the "medical officer" for a senior citizen softball league.
Id. We concluded that neither expert had " 'recently engaged in the actual performance of the procedures at issue' " in that case. Id. at 420, 568 S.E.2d at 710 (quoting Sami, 260 Va. at 285, 535 S.E.2d at 175).
Although these cases are instructive, they do not provide a definitive answer in this case. This is so because we have never, in those cases or otherwise, defined the phrase "active clinical practice" nor have we addressed whether an expert who only taught and consulted in a defendant's specialty or a related field of medicine during the statutory one-year window nevertheless had an "active clinical practice" within the contemplation of Code § 8.01-581.20(A). But, we have stated that we determine whether a proffered expert witness satisfies the active clinical practice requirement by referring to the "relevant medical procedure" at issue in a case. Wright, 267 Va. at 522, 593 S.E.2d at 313. We also have explained that the phrase " 'actual performance of the procedures at issue' must be read in the context of the actions by which the defendant is alleged to have deviated from the standard of care."
Id. at 523, 593 S.E.2d at 314. The question whether a proffered expert witness met the active clinical practice requirement must be analyzed in the same manner. Thus, in this case, we determine whether Dr. Greenhouse, as a teacher and consultant in the field of obstetrics, fulfilled the active clinical practice requirement by examining "the context of the actions by which the defendant alleged to have deviated from the standard of care." Id.
The alleged negligence forming the basis of this action arose out of the direct patient care provided to Hinkley during her pregnancy; and the management, treatment, and delivery decisions
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