Opinion ID: 500742
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Disqualification of Expert Witness

Text: 33 On the second day of trial, the district court ruled that plaintiffs had not qualified Dr. Kirshner, a neurologist and not an ENT surgeon, as an expert to testify to the standard of care for performing this type of ENT surgery. During the taking of Dr. Kirshner's deposition, counsel for defendant objected to Kirshner's testimony on the standard of care on the grounds that he was not qualified to give such an opinion. The parties make an issue as to whether Federal Rules of Evidence 601 or 702 applies to the court's determination. 34 Plaintiffs argue that under Federal Rule of Evidence 601, when state law provides the substantive law, competency of witnesses is also determined by state law. See Crumley v. Memorial Hosp., 509 F.Supp. 531, 532 n. 2 (E.D.Tenn.1978) (in diversity based medical malpractice action, competency of physician as expert witness is to be determined in accordance with Tennessee law), aff'd, 647 F.2d 164 (6th Cir.1981) (unpublished opinion). See also LeMaire v. United States, 826 F.2d 949, 954 (10th Cir.1987) (state law regarding competency of physician's testimony applicable to medical malpractice case brought under Federal Tort Claims Act). Defendant argues that Federal Rule of Evidence 702 governs expert testimony and that state law is inapplicable. See Dawsey v. Olin Corp., 782 F.2d 1254, 1262 (5th Cir.1986) (under Fed.R.Evid. 1101 and 702, state statute preventing unlicensed physicians from testifying as medical experts inapplicable in diversity action in federal court). 35 We need not decide this issue because plaintiffs failed to show that this evidentiary ruling affected a substantial right as required by Federal Rule of Evidence 103(a)(1). Furthermore, the court stated that Dr. Kirshner's testimony on the standard of care did not add anything to the record. Kirshner testified that he was not an expert about precise standards for that particular operation. JA at 158. His testimony was to the effect that it was never acceptable for any doctor to inject Teflon into the carotid artery. Therefore, we determine that no error was committed by the district court.