Opinion ID: 197865
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The evidence has been discovered since the trial;

Text: 41 (2) The evidence could not by due diligence have been discovered earlier by the movant[;] 42 (3) The evidence is not merely cumulative or impeaching; and 43 (4) The evidence is of such nature that it would probably change the result if a new trial is granted. 44 Raymond v. Raymond Corp., 938 F.2d 1518, 1527 (1st Cir.1991) (quoting Nickerson v. G.D. Searle & Co., 900 F.2d 412, 417 (1st Cir.1990)). A district court's ruling on a motion under Rule 60(b) will only be overturned for an abuse of discretion. See Raymond, 938 F.2d at 1527; Nickerson, 900 F.2d at 416; Duffy v. Clippinger, 857 F.2d 877, 879 (1st Cir.1988). 45 There are two problems with the defendant's argument. The first is that it is by no means clear that this article constitutes newly discovered evidence for purposes of Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). Although the trial was held on May 1-3, 1996, approximately four months before the article was published, an abstract of the article had been available since 1993. A more diligent effort to research the relevant medical literature by the defendant should have produced the abstract. 46 The second and more important problem is that the evidence would not be likely to change the result of the trial. The United States has retained as experts some of the authors of the article, one of whom would testify that, based on the survey, he thought that 60% of the gastroenterologists in the United States would have restarted Coumadin after a colonoscopy within 7 days or less. The proposed expert would also testify that there are no published guidelines at present that would assist endoscopists in managing patients on anticoagulant therapy during the period of time following a colonoscopy, and that most endoscopists are therefore using their own judgment or criteria in managing such patients. 47 This evidence would not have required the trial judge to reach a different result. As a general matter, the article, and the expert's testimony, are based on a survey to which only 38.5% of ASGE members responded, a response rate which was described by the authors of the article as less than ideal. Moreover, the responses were based on generalized questions, such as the length of time the gastroenterologists would wait before restarting Coumadin after a therapeutic colonoscopy (i.e., one during which a biopsy or polypectomy was performed) in patients suffering from conditions such as atrial fibrillation. The answers to these questions are not definitive because they did not take into consideration the particulars of a patient's medical history, even though the experts testifying before the trial judge agreed that such particulars are indispensable in determining the proper treatment to be followed. As for the proposed testimony regarding the lack of published guidelines, the fact remains that gastroenterologists cannot close their eyes to the standard of care appropriate to other specialties when performing procedures within their own that impact upon other specialties. 48 The trial judge heard testimony from specialists in hematology and gastroenterology who indicated that Mr. Hassey should not have been kept off Coumadin as long as he was, and explained in detail why they thought so. We think it improbable that the proposed evidence would have resulted in a different outcome.