Opinion ID: 2617494
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the expert witness

Text: As his final assignment of error, Tansy claims that it was error to permit the Director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs of Dacomed to testify as an expert medical and engineering witness. Mary Wilen, the Director, is a licensed practical nurse. She worked as a nurse for several years, and was later employed as a research nurse to carry out clinical studies. At Dacomed, her duties include setting up clinical studies and selecting doctors to be in those studies. She was involved in the clinical study conducted on the OmniPhase prosthesis, and has extensive experience in conducting clinical research. She was also the person who handled any problems presented by doctors during or after the implantation of the device. At trial Wilen testified that on an occasion prior to Tansy's, Dr. Barnes had implanted an OmniPhase device incorrectly. In her testimony, she explained how the device should be implanted. She testified as to the ordinary procedures followed by Dacomed when there is a complaint. Lastly, she testified as to how the clinical studies were conducted, and that the studies showed a 3.77% fail rate with the OmniPhase. The statements made by Wilen were within her base of knowledge and expertise. She did not testify as to the proper engineering or designing of the prosthesis. She simply testified to facts and opinions that were within her realm of knowledge as the Director of Clinical Affairs. The trial court's decision regarding the qualifications of an expert will not be reversed unless there is a clear abuse of discretion. Gabus, 678 P.2d at 257. The trial court gave the jury an instruction which stated that the weight to give expert testimony was entirely up to the jury. The jury was aware of her qualifications and of her position within Dacomed. They could give her testimony whatever weight they determined appropriate. Again, we find no abuse of discretion in allowing her to testify.