Expert Witness’s Ouster Costs Med Mal Plaintiff $1 Million

A Maryland woman was properly stripped of a nearly $1 million medical malpractice damages award because she didn’t show that her expert witness spent no more than 20% of his time in activities related to providing expert witness testimony, a state appeals court said.

Brenda Brown couldn’t prove her professional negligence case against physician Joel Falik without the testimony of physician Sanford Davne, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals said Oct. 2 in an unpublished opinion. A trial court thus properly directed a verdict for Falik, it said.

Brown sued Falik after her husband died of complications following back surgery. ...