Court Opinion

ID: 9746316
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:11:51.48394+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:12.007552
License: Public Domain

CAPPY, Justice,
concurring.
Although I find the position espoused by the dissent to be very enticing in its simplicity, the requirement that the only evidence competent to prove a second school of thought is that which is contained in the annals of medical literature is too extreme in light of the nature of the practice of medicine. With all due respect, I believe that the dissent fundamentally misunderstands the methods by which information is conveyed in the medical community; in short, I believe the dissent is approaching this issue solely from the perspective of a lawyer.
If the two schools of thought doctrine were somehow applied in a legal malpractice case, I would in all likelihood have few qualms about imposing the dissent’s requirement. In the legal community, nothing is truly accepted until it is written down, preferably in an opinion by a judge. Yet, that is not the case in the medical community. A significant amount of valid information is passed along orally, such as on rounds or in conferences. To be sure, there is a great deal of information contained in the medical literature. Yet, a number of practi*480tioner’s points are passed along orally or in other informal settings.1
Were we to adopt the dissent’s position, we would exclude significant amounts of relevant evidence and thereby distort the process of determining whether a certain medical practice is a recognized second school of thought. I am not persuaded by the dissenting opinion that this would be a wise course of action to take. Therefore, as I believe that the majority has articulated the more sound approach, I join in that opinion.

. The majority expressed a similar opinion. Majority op. at 1111-12.