Case Name: Thomas Bunting, Appellant, v. Samuel H. Selesnick, M.D., Respondent, et al., Defendants
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2002-12-05
Citations: 300 A.D.2d 26
Docket Number: 
Parties: Thomas Bunting, Appellant, v Samuel H. Selesnick, M.D., Respondent, et al., Defendants.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 300
Pages: 26–27

Head Matter:
Thomas Bunting, Appellant, v Samuel H. Selesnick, M.D., Respondent, et al., Defendants.
[751 NYS2d 180]

Opinion:
—Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert Lippmann, J., and a jury), entered June 23, 2000, in favor of the defend ant and against the plaintiff in a medical malpractice action, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, the judgment vacated, the complaint reinstated and the matter remanded for a new trial.
At issue in this medical malpractice action is whether it was error for the trial court to refuse to allow plaintiff's medical expert to testify on the ground that no CPLR 3101 (d) notice had been served regarding the physician, and if so, whether such error was harmless. We find that the trial court erred in precluding plaintiff's medical expert from testifying as to causation and that such error was not harmless. The issues of defendant's alleged departure from accepted standards of surgical care and causation are so intertwined that expert testimony on both issues is required to be placed before the jury in the first instance so that they may make informed decisions when rendering their verdict. Concur — Williams, P.J., Nardelli, Rosenberger, Ellerin and Lerner, JJ.