Opinion ID: 2979559
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Using a medical text at trial

Text: Schneider claims that the district court erred by allowing Molony to use a medical text called Andrews’ Diseases of the Skin at trial because Molony’s attorney, Frank Benton, did not disclose it early enough during discovery. Parties must disclose to each other “a copy—or a description by category and location—of all documents . . . that the disclosing party has in its possession, custody, or control and may use to support its claims or defenses” and they must supplement these disclosures if they are incomplete or incorrect. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1), (e)(1). Furthermore, if a party fails to disclose a document, the district court may prohibit use of the document at trial. However, the district court may choose to allow use of the document if the court instead orders the non-compliant No. 09-5156 Schneider v. Molony Page 4 party to pay reasonable expenses to the movant, informs the jury of the failure, or “impose[s] other appropriate sanctions.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c)(1). Benton indicated in pretrial filings that he intended to use a medical text covering eczema, but it is unclear whether he identified the title of the text at that time. One week before trial, Benton mentioned the text—Andrews’— by name at the deposition of Schneider’s expert witness, Dr. Boyd. Later, at the request of Schneider’s attorney, John Metz, Benton faxed Metz a copy of the specific pages in Andrews’ that he intended to use at trial. The text in those pages explained that a Kenalog injection may be used once every four weeks to treat eczema if other treatments are not effective. Metz filed a motion in limine the night before trial to prevent Benton from using the pages at trial. Benton explained that he did not know which specific pages he would use at trial until shortly before Boyd’s deposition. The district court denied the motion on the contingency that Schneider was able to conduct a supplemental deposition with Boyd concerning the pages. Metz supplementally deposed Boyd that same day and asked Boyd specifically about the pages sent by Benton. Boyd responded at length to the statement, mainly rejecting it. He also pointed out that the text was from an old edition of Andrews’ and it was excluded from more current editions. The deposition was filed with the district court and read to the jury. The record leaves unclear the question of whether Benton disclosed the title of Andrews’ in his initial disclosures, and the district court did not make a factual finding regarding the issue. We, therefore, cannot conclude that Benton complied with Rule 26. However, even if Benton did violate Rule 26, we believe that reversal is not required because the district court fashioned an appropriate, alternative sanction pursuant to Rule 37(c)(1)(C). The district court ruled that Benton would be No. 09-5156 Schneider v. Molony Page 5 precluded from using Andrews’ at trial unless Metz was able to depose his expert witness regarding the specific pages from Andrews’ before the start of trial. Metz was successful in reaching his expert and questioning him about the pages from Andrews’ before the start of trial. The district court’s order dispelled any prejudice to Schneider from a failure to disclose the Andrews’ pages, and it was not an abuse of the district court’s discretion to impose it in lieu of excluding the pages. Accordingly, there is no error warranting reversal.