Definition of Expert Witness Expands in Pennsylvania
In a recent case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a nurse was qualified as an expert witness and was able to testify about causation in a medical malpractice case.

August 28, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Definition of Expert Witness Expands in Pennsylvania

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In the recent case of Freed v. Geisinger Medical Center, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a nurse was qualified as an expert witness and was able to testify about causation in a medical malpractice case. The ruling overturned a prior decision by the Court of Common Pleas, which had disallowed the testimony, stating that a nurse is not qualified to give a medical diagnosis.

In this medical malpractice case, allegations of substandard care were leveled against the nursing staff at a rehabilitation hospital where the plaintiff, Rodger Freed, was being given rehabilitative treatment for a spinal cord injury that left him a paraplegic.

In the course of his stay at Geisinger Medical Center, Freed developed bedsores that he claimed were the result of inadequate care at the facility. He filed a lawsuit which led to a jury trial. During the trial, registered nurse Linda Pershall was called to testify about nursing standards of care, as well as the causes of Freed's bedsores. The court ruled that because Pershall isn't a doctor, she isn't qualified to give a medical diagnosis.

The court then dismissed the lawsuit against Geisinger. A Superior Court later reversed that decision and ordered a trial to be held; Pennsylvania's Supreme Court upheld the Superior Court's ruling, meaning that Freed will be able to bring his suit against Geisinger using the nurse as an expert witness.

The state Supreme Court stated that to qualify as an expert witness in a given field, a person needs only to "possess greater expertise than is within the ordinary range of training, knowledge, intelligence, or experience."

This ruling means that in cases where nursing care standards are breached, and that breach causes an injury, a nurse can testify to the causes of that injury.

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