Opinion ID: 1280959
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Facts Undisclosed by the Majority Opinion

Text: A very large concern with the Court's opinion is that it withholds from the reader, perhaps by oversight, matters of fact which are readily available in the appeal record. Or, if the fact is there, it is obscured. In addition, there is at least one affirmative misstatement of the record. [7] Called as a witness by the plaintiffs, the defendant identified himself as Dr. Roger W. Boe, a pediatrician at the Pocatello Children's and Adolescent Clinic. R., Vol. I, p. 2. He identified by name the other four doctors who were his partners on the day of his testimony, and that the partnership when formed was comprised of the named doctors, including himself, and a Dr. Boydon who was no longer a partner. The majority opinion seemingly concedes that Dr. Boe was the child's treating physician, but apparently sees it of some moment that during one week of the child's hospitalization he was under the care of another physician. Apparently the insertion of that assertion into the opinion is a gratuity which is intended to bolster the preceding statement to the effect that Dr. Tune reached a medical conclusion  solely by reviewing the doctor and hospital records and the testimony of Dr. Boe, not from any examination he made of Jake Gubler during the time in question in 1983. 120 Idaho at 302, 815 P.2d at 1037 (emphasis added). It would be surprising if the entire trial bar will not be astounded at that remarkable sentence, especially wherein it states that Dr. Tune's conclusion was not based on an examination of Jake Gubler in 1983. In all of the clerk's record and the reporter's transcripts on appeal, and in all of the briefing we have before us, there is not a scintilla of a suggestion that Dr. Tune had even been in Idaho in 1983, or had any contact with the Gubler family. Of course Dr. Tune did not examine the child in 1983. Of course the doctor, in reaching his medical conclusion, had to acquaint himself with the medical records of the examination and treatment records which Dr. Boe was obliged to furnish. Of course Dr. Tune reviewed those records. Likewise, Dr. Boe reviewed the records of Dr. Yost who for a few days took over for Dr. Boe. This Court has had before it previous appeals in medical malpractice cases, many of them, in fact. In a different context, that of personal injury actions, we have had the same situation before us, with plaintiffs alleging in their complaints serious and disabling injuries, and defendants thoroughly examining all available records, which in turn are examined by defendants' experts who in turn will draw their own conclusions as to the severity of the injuries, and the duration of anticipated pain and suffering. The Chief Justice knows, as do all of us, that it cannot truthfully be said that Dr. Tune's conclusion was based solely on his review of the defendant's records. That is, however, the thought advanced, notwithstanding that Dr. Tune has specialized in the same field of medicine as Dr. Boe, is an expert, and both of the doctors are board-certified in the same specialty, all of which we regularly see in these cases as well as in damage actions based on personal injury claims. As to some other doctor filling in for Dr. Boe, that is equally commonplace. The majority opinion would be better had that not been advanced, because it is something in the nature of a phantom vehicle which caused an accident and was never seen again, or the phantom black horse which suddenly appeared on the roadway, causing the driver to swerve into the path of another vehicle. None of the foregoing amounted to a predicate for the statement which followed, i.e.: The trial court addressed this argument... . 120 Idaho at 302, 815 P.2d at 1037. The trial court did address the issue of liability, but his remarks as quoted by the Chief Justice did not even mention Dr. Tune and his expert opinion. It is true that the district court did rule Dr. Tune ineligible to testify as to whether Dr. Boe's treatment of Jake Gubler was in accordance with the local standard of care, as knowledge of the local standard of care is a prerequisite to testifying on that issue. That is what this appeal is all about. Some of us on the Court have had adequate schooling in that regard by reason of previous similar cases.