Court Opinion

ID: 9546950
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:38:28.951779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:17:05.067850
License: Public Domain

*841BOYLE, Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with much that is said in the majority opinion about how the standard of care is to be determined. However, after a careful review of the record in light of our existing case law, I am of the opinion that the district court did not err in holding that adequate foundation for Dr. Friedman’s testimony was not laid.
The dispositive issue in this case is whether the standard of care in Pocatello in 1985 included the use of ultrasound technology to determine fetal weight and macrosomia in certain high risk pregnancies. At trial Dr. Friedman testified that in reliance on a telephone conversation he had with Dr. DeSano and the depositions of Dr. Rush and Dr. Rufi, he determined that the “standard of care was for all practical purposes the same here [in Pocatello] as it was in the rest of the country in 1985.” R.Vol. VI at 949-50.
Normally, this would be more than adequate to qualify a medical expert under our statutes and cases. However, it was subsequently determined at trial that Dr. Friedman’s testimony as to the standard was inaccurate. Initially, Dr. Friedman relied on his telephone conversation with Dr. DeSano to establish the standard of care in Pocatello in 1985. However, upon cross examination Dr. Friedman acknowledged he had been advised in the familiarization process that the use of ultrasound technology to determine fetal weight was not the standard of care in Pocatello at that time. The key portion of Dr. Friedman’s testimony was as follows:
Q. No, I didn’t ask you that question. I said did he [Dr. DeSano] tell you that it was not the standard of care in 1984 and 1985 to use ultrasound for the purpose of determining fetal size with regard to an assessment for macrosomia?
A. I have already indicated that is what he said, yes.
Q. And Dr. Rush said that same thing in his deposition, didn’t he?
A. Correct.
Q. And Dr. Rufi said it was not routinely done, didn’t he?
A. He said it was being done under certain circumstances.
R.Vol. VII at 1177-78. (Emphasis added.)
Moreover, in the deposition of Dr. Rufi, relied upon by Dr. Friedman for foundational purposes, it is stated that as of 1985, “[i]t’s not clear in my mind that they [the ultrasound operators] were actually giving us estimated weights at that time.” Dep. of Dr. Rufi at 32. Dr. Rufi also stated in his deposition that he did not know when fetal weights began to be determined by ultrasound in Pocatello. The best estimate he could give was that they began in the “early eighties.” The problem with Dr. Rufi’s statement is that it is not time and site specific as required in Gubler v. Boe, 120 Idaho 294, 815 P.2d 1034 (1991). More importantly, the evidence in the record does not begin to answer the question of when ultrasound technology for this purpose became the “standard” in Pocatello. At most, the evidence in the record merely approximates a time frame within the early 1980’s when the technology was first applied and then only, according to Dr. Rufi, “under certain circumstances.”
Admirably, the trial court did not merely rely upon the ambiguity in Dr. Rufi’s deposition to strike the testimony of Dr. Friedman. Rather, the trial court properly attempted to assess and determine whether there was a deviation in Pocatello in 1985 from the national standard of care regarding the use of ultrasound technology to determine fetal macrosomia. After the defense had rested its case, the issue of foundation for Dr. Friedman’s expert testimony was put at issue. As a result, the trial court gave plaintiffs permission to call Dr. Rufi as a witness to clear up the ambiguity contained in his deposition. Plaintiffs chose not to call Dr. Rufi.
Because Dr. Rufi’s testimony was ambiguous as to time, I am reluctantly constrained to conclude that the trial court was within its discretion in determining that neither the deposition of Dr. Rufi nor the telephone conversation with Dr. DeSano laid a proper foundation for the standard of care in Pocatello in 1985. Accord*842ingly, unless we ignore the requirements of I.C. §§ 6-1012, 6-1013, and our prior cases, the only valid legal conclusion is that the testimony of Dr. Friedman was without adequate foundation.
In summary, the record demonstrates that the use of ultrasound technology to determine fetal weight and macrosomia does not appear to have been the standard of care in Pocatello in 1985. In my view, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that Dr. Friedman’s testimony lacked proper foundation. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.