Verdicts

A plaintiff in a New Jersey medical malpractice case whose claims were dismissed after the New Jersey Supreme Court changed the rules on qualifications for expert witnesses midstream should have been given the chance to find a new expert, an appeals court said. Williams v. Atlanticare Regional Medical Center, 2014 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2157 (9/3/14). Appellate Division Judges Victor Ashrafi and George Leone said in a Sept. 3 opinion that Atlantic County Superior Court Judge James Savio erred when he changed his mind after first refusing to grant summary judgment in the case. “Plaintiff should have the opportunity to seek a new expert,” the appeals court said. “The trial court should not have second-guessed itself.”

Plaintiff Veronica Williams sustained neck injuries in a January 2006 automobile accident and underwent spinal surgery in June of that year, according to the appeals court opinion. Two physicians, Dr. James Lowe and Dr. Joseph Zerbo, who belonged to the same practice, performed the surgery. Lowe is board-certified in neurological surgery and Zerbo is board-certified in orthopedic surgery. They both advertise themselves as specialists in spinal surgery.