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Can Nurses Opine on Medical Causation? PA's Supreme Court Seems Set to Decide the Issue.
December 4, 2009
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In most personal injury cases, an independent medical examination referral is a necessary evil. In low value cases, this can be problematic in that the usual $1,500 cost of an IME (by a doctor) can be worth almost as much as the case itself (especially in Philadelphia’s arbitration court). The nature of the business may, however, be about to change. Earlier this week the PA Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of <i>Freed v. Geisinger Medical Center </i>. At issue in this case is whether a registered nurse can opine on both the standard of nursing care and medical causation under PA's Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act. If the court rules that a registered nurse can opine on medical causation (assuming they otherwise meet the expert standards), there may suddenly be a much larger pool of experts to draw from.
If you would like more information about this post, please contact Bob Cosgrove at <a href="mailto:rcosgrove@wcmlaw.com">rcosgrove@wcmlaw.com</a>.
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