Opinion ID: 2582842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Neuwelt Affidavit

Text: The superior court refused to consider Dr. Neuwelt's affidavit on several grounds: that it was not in the proper form under Civil Rule 76, [43] that it was untimely, and that it did not meet the requirements of AS 09.55.540 because it was based almost entirely on answers to hypothetical questions and thus failed to address the relevant standard of care, that the defendants lacked knowledge or skill to meet the standard, and that Donald Hymes therefore suffered injuries that he would not have otherwise suffered as a result. We decline to endorse refusal to consider a document for the failure of a pro se litigant to meet the technical requirements of the civil rules regarding page size and the like, without the litigant having been afforded the opportunity to meet the requirements after notice of them. As to the timeliness of the submission, the superior court granted the motion for summary judgment eight days before the deadline it had itself set. Under these circumstances, the litigant is entitled to have his submission considered. As to the substantive questionwhether Dr. Neuwelt's affidavit met the requirements of AS 09.55.540we analyze the matter somewhat differently than the superior court. It is true that Dr. Neuwelt's affidavit contains his answers to hypothetical questions, but these were all questions that may be relevant to Hymes's medical malpractice claim. The questions track the claims in Hymes's complaint, and they are almost exactly the same as the questions answered by Dr. Houk in her affidavit. Accordingly, Dr. Neuwelt's responses assist in establishing the required standard of care under AS 09.55.540(a)(1). In addition, he meets the qualifications requirements as a board-certified rheumatologist. As a rheumatologist, Dr. Neuwelt is an expert in the treatment of diseases of the connective tissue. [44] His curriculum vitae reveals that Dr. Neuwelt, who has been the Chief of Rheumatology at the Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland, California, and who has held clinical professorships of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University, has extensive experience and training in rheumatology. Therefore, he is qualified to testify regarding the physical effects of abrupt discontinuation of the drug Methotrexate, which Dr. Neuwelt identifies as the `gold standard' disease-modifying agent for psoriatic arthritis.