Opinion ID: 1610267
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alabama Medical Liability Act

Text: Section 6-5-548(a), Ala.Code 1975, a part of the Alabama Medical Liability Act, provides: (a) In any action for injury or damages or wrongful death, whether in contract or in tort, against a health care provider for breach of the standard of care, the plaintiff shall have the burden of proving by substantial evidence that the health care provider failed to exercise such reasonable care, skill, and diligence as other similarly situated health care providers in the same general line of practice ordinarily have and exercise in a like case. (Emphasis added.) Section 6-5-548(b), applicable to defendant health care providers who are not specialists, provides: (b) ... [A] `similarly situated health care provider' is one who meets all of the following qualifications: (1) Is licensed by the appropriate regulatory board or agency of this or some other state. (2) Is trained and experienced in the same discipline or school of practice. (3) Has practiced in the same discipline or school of practice during the year preceding the date that the alleged breach of the standard of care occurred. Section 6-5-548(c), applicable to defendant health care providers who are specialists, provides: (c) ... [A] `similarly situated health care provider' is one who meets all of the following requirements: (1) Is licensed by the appropriate regulatory board or agency of this or some other state. (2) Is trained and experienced in the same speciality. (3) Is certified by an appropriate American board in the same specialty. (4) Has practiced in this speciality during the year preceding the date that the alleged breach of the standard of care occurred. Section 6-5-548(e) governs the competency of expert witnesses to testify to breach of the standard of care in medical malpractice actions: (e) The purpose of this section is to establish a relative standard of care for heath care providers. A health care provider may testify as an expert witness in any action for injury or damages against another health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care only if he or she is a `similarly situated health care provider' as defined above. It is the intent of the Legislature that in the event the defendant health care provider is certified by an appropriate American board or in a particular specialty and is practicing that specialty at the time of the alleged breach of the standard of care, a health care provider may testify as an expert witness with respect to an alleged breach of the standard of care in any action for injury, damages, or wrongful death against another health care provider only if he or she is certified by the same American board in the same specialty. (Emphasis added.)