The Appellate Division, Second Department, in Shectman v Wilson 2009 NY Slip Op 09208 (2d Dept. 2009), observed the following:
“Here, the defendant physicians established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence demonstrating that their care and treatment of the plaintiffs did not depart from good and accepted medical practices. In opposition, the plaintiffs came forward with the affidavit of a physician, specializing in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, who contested the opinions of the defendants’ respective experts concerning the proximate cause of the infant plaintiff’s developmental disabilities. The affidavit of the plaintiffs’ expert did not mention whether the physician had any specific training or expertise in pediatrics, psychiatry, or particularized knowledge as to the relevant disabilities of the infant plaintiff. Moreover, the affidavit did not indicate that the physician had familiarized himself with the relevant literature or otherwise set forth how he was, or became, familiar with the applicable standards of care in this specialized area of practice. ” While it is true that a medical expert need not be a specialist in a particular field in order to testify regarding accepted practices in that field . . . the witness nonetheless should be possessed of the requisite skill, training, education, knowledge or experience from which it can be assumed that the opinion rendered is reliable'” (Behar v Coren, 21 AD3d 1045, 1046-1047, quoting Postlethwaite v United Health Servs. Hosps., 5 AD3d 892, 895). Thus, where a physician opines outside his or her area of specialization, a foundation must be laid tending to support the reliability of the opinion rendered (see Geffner v North Shore Univ. Hosp., 57 AD3d 839, 841; Bjorke v Rubenstein, 53 AD3d 519, 520; Glazer v Lee, 51 AD3d 970, 971; Mustello v Berg, 44 AD3d 1018, 1019; Behar v Coren, 21 AD3d at 1046-1047; Nangano v Mount Sinai Hosp., 305 AD2d 473, 474). In the circumstances of this case, as the plaintiffs’ expert failed to lay the requisite foundation for his asserted familiarity with pediatric developmental disabilities, his affidavit was of no probative value. Accordingly, the plaintiffs failed to raise a triable issue of fact, and the Supreme Court improperly denied that branch of Wilson’s motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against him and Duncan’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against her.”
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