Opinion ID: 2321184
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Expert Opinion in Context

Text: Because we are not permitted to weigh the evidence or to judge the credibility of the witnesses, we will not dwell at length on the medical evidence in Dr. Giordano's favor. Nevertheless, in this procedural context, we must review all of the evidence in the record. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). Moreover, [t]he opponent of the motion [for judgment as a matter of law] must be given the benefit of every reasonable inference from the evidence, but not inferences based on guess or speculation. Furline v. Morrison, 953 A.2d 344, 351 (D.C.2008) (internal quotation marks, editing, and citations omitted). It thus is important to acknowledge that Dr. Fellows' inference of negligence was challenged by many witnesses. For example, Dr. Frank Anderson, the only neurologist to testify at trial, had examined Ms. Sherwood in addition to reviewing her medical records. In his expert opinion, the ongoing problem of RSD was causing the changes long before the surgery. Furthermore, Ms. Sherwood suffer[ed] an exacerbation of her reflex sympathetic dystrophy as a normal consequence of having surgery that was necessary to save her leg. He also concluded that she was exaggerating her right leg problems. In his opinion, nothing in Dr. Giordano's surgical technique, in his approach to doing the sympathectomy would have caused any injury ... to her nerves, to her femoral, obturator, or sciatic nerve. Dr. Peter Moskovitz, Ms. Sherwood's treating orthopedic surgeon and the author of a book on RSD, opined that there is no reasonable possibility that Dr. Giordano had damaged the nerve roots. You've got to literally dig through [the psoas] muscle to get to the somatic nerve. It doesn't happen. In his opinion, Ms. Sherwood's post-operative symptoms were due to an exacerbation of her reflex sympathetic dystrophy. There certainly was no direct evidence that Dr. Giordano committed any of the mistakes that Dr. Fellows hypothesized. Contrary to Ms. Sherwood's suggestion, the pathology report in no way supports a conclusion that Dr. Giordano had been operating on the back side of the psoas muscle. See note 3, supra. The small amount of blood loss, and the short duration of the procedure, indicated that this had been a standard, uncomplicated operation. When asked whether he had clipped the femoral or sciatic or obturator nerves, Dr. Giordano replied, No. I didn't even see them in the operation. He testified that he had no contact with the femoral, obturator, or sciatic nerves. Moreover, retraction would have had no impact on those nervesthat's in the back. The retraction is in the front. See note 3, supra. In retrospect, Dr. Giordano thought that Ms. Sherwood probably had, as I told her she could have, ... a worsening of the RSD, and maybe the exacerbation that everybody has talked about after this kind of surgery.