Halloran v Kiri, 2019 NY Slip Op 04769 (1st Dept. 2019)
I have been so focused on the Second Department case law on the issue, I totally neglected the First Department cases on the issue. In honesty, I did not think the First Department departed from the prior rule that a physician’s opinion goes to weight regardless of specialty. Wrong again.
” Moreover, appellants’ experts failed to show that they were qualified to opine on the cause of decedent’s death (Steinberg v Lenox Hill Hosp., 148 AD3d 612, 613 [1st Dept 2017]).” Steinberg said ” Plaintiffs’ expert was also not qualified to offer an opinion as to causation. He specializes in cardiovascular surgery, not neurology or ophthalmology. Moreover, he failed to “profess the requisite personal knowledge” necessary to make a determination on the issue of whether the perforation was responsible for plaintiff’s visual impairment “
Ask yourself if our favorite no-fault pediatricians Dr. Michael Tamburo or Dr. Hirsch are really competent to offer any opinions?
