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Eng v. Klein4/25/2005
It is the scope of a witness's knowledge and not artificial classification by professional title that governs the threshold question of admissibility of expert medical testimony in a malpractice case. A practitioner of one school of medicine may testify regarding the practice in another school of medicine when the methods of treatment of the two are or should be the same. Because Dr. Vincent Quagliarello was knowledgeable as to the medical problem at issue, and the methods of treatment involved were not specialty-specific, we find he was qualified to testify. Therefore, summary judgment was improperly granted.
FACTS
This is a medical malpractice and wrongful death action filed by Pon Kwock Eng on behalf of his deceased wife, Ping S. Eng, alleging that the defendants, Dr. Steven Klein and Dr. Gregory Moss, failed to diagnose and treat acute bacterial meningitis in a timely fashion. On October 1, 1999, Dr. Jacob Young performed successful neurosurgery on Ping's back at Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Swedish). Ping was discharged on October 6 with a clean, dry wound and no fever or other surgical complications. On October 8, Pon contacted Dr. Klein, who was the neurosurgeon covering for Dr. Young, and reported that his wife had a high fever. Dr. Klein advised Pon to immediately take his wife to Swedish Emergency Department. There Ping was examined by the physician on duty, Dr. Peggy Goldman. Ping's symptoms included a 103.5 degree temperature, a mild headache, visual blurring and a drooping eyelid. Dr. Goldman ordered laboratory work and a CT scan of Ping's head and spine. The lab work revealed a normal urinalysis but an abnormal white blood cell count.
Somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m., Dr. Klein arrived at the emergency department to evaluate Ping's surgical wound for a possible infection. After his examination, "it seemed clear {to Dr. Klein} that her infection was not a result of Dr. Young's prior neurosurgical procedure or an infection {of} the surgical wound." After this examination and before the results of the CT scan were available, Ping was admitted to the hospital under Dr. Klein's care at approximately 10:00 p.m. Dr. Goldman wrote in her report:
MEDICAL DECISION MAKING: The patient appears to have a significant bacterial infection. We must rule out any source of infection in her surgical region. Her right papillary dilation is unclear of significance.
PLAN: I talked to Dr. Klein who was on call for Dr. Young and he came to the emergency department, saw the patient here and is writing the orders. He will follow through on the CAT scan. I did ask the radiologist to directly page Dr. Klein with the CAT scan results.
Dr. Klein then attempted to contact Dr. Moss, an infectious disease specialist. He eventually reached Dr. Moss sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. on October 9. Based on his conversation with Dr. Moss and his own examination of Ping, Dr. Klein did not believe Ping needed any further work up prior to Dr. Moss's early morning rounds. Dr. Klein then went home.
Dr. Moss saw Ping for the first time on October 9 at 7:45 a.m. Over the next several hours, Dr. Moss performed tests on Ping to determine the nature of the infection. He also administered antibiotics. At 12:00 p.m. on October 10, he performed a lumbar puncture (spinal tap). Early in the morning of October 11, the results of the spinal tap revealed that Ping was suffering from a rare form of meningitis that both parties' experts agree was likely unrelated to Ping's neurosurgery. With this information in hand, Dr. Moss administered the appropriate antibiotic; however, Ping succumbed to the infection on October 21, 1999.
Pon fi
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