An Arkansas law requiring that proof in medical malpractice cases be supplied through expert testimony by a provider who practices the same specialty as the defendant violates the state constitution’s separation of powers doctrine, the state supreme court said Jan. 19 (Broussard v. St. Edward Mercy Health System Inc., Ark., 11-561, 1/19/12).
The Arkansas Supreme Court, in a decision by Chief Justice Jim Hannah, declared Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-206(a) unconstitutional, saying that the “authority to decide who may testify and under what conditions” fell exclusively to the state’s courts.
The issue arose in a medical malpractice ...
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