Samaan v. St. Joseph Hospital

274 F.R.D. 41, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35319, 2011 WL 1227771
District Court, D. Maine·Decided April 1, 2011·No. No. 1:09-cv-00656-JAW·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTION IN LIMINE AND TO RECONSIDER RULING ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JOHN A. WOODCOCK, JR., Chief Judge.

The Court grants the Defendants’ motion to exclude the expert testimony of Drs. Maryann Walsh and Elsayed Hussein concerning the consequences of the failure to administer tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) to Anton K. Samaan upon his presentation at St. Joseph Hospital with symptoms of ischemic stroke. Because this leaves Mr. Samaan without a causation expert, the Court grants the Defendants’ motion to reconsider the Court’s order denying summary judgment and orders judgment entered in favor of the Defendants.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. Mr. Samaan’s Stroke and Treatment at St. Joseph

On January 14, 2006, Anton K. Samaan boarded a flight in Milan, Italy to return to New York, New York after visiting his family in Egypt for the holidays. During the flight, Mr. Samaan got up from his seat and headed toward the plane’s galley for a cup of tea. When Mr. Samaan reached the galley, “he was confronted by a flight attendant who told him that he appeared sick.” Notice of Removal at Attach 2 ¶ 9 (Docket # 1), Compl. The flight attendant called for doctors on the plane, and at approximately 11:30 a.m., a doctor diagnosed him with “a likely stroke in progress.” Id. ¶ 10. In accordance with the doctor’s instructions, the pilot diverted the plane to the nearest airport. Id.

The plane landed in Bangor, Maine and Mr. Samaan reached the emergency department at St. Joseph Hospital not later than 12:40 p.m., where he was treated by emergency room physician David Kaplan, M.D. Id. ¶¶ 11, 15. Dr. Kaplan did not administer t-PA. Id. ¶ 11. Mr. Samaan has suffered “severe deficits as a result of the ischemic stroke he suffered on 01/14/06.” Id. ¶ 13. He filed this suit against St. Joseph and Dr. Kaplan, alleging that Dr. Kaplan’s failure to [43]*43administer t-PA violated the standard of medical care and caused him severe damages. Id. ¶ 22.

2. Procedural History

On December 21, 2010, after an extensive Daubert hearing, the Court barred the testimony of Mr. Samaan’s causation expert, Dr. Ravi Tikoo, M.D. Order on Daubert Hr’g. (Docket # 91) (Daubert Order); See also Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). On December 23, 2010, Dr. David Kaplan and St. Joseph Hospital (the Defendants) moved for reconsideration of the Court’s October 14, 2010 order denying the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Defs. St. Joseph Hosp.’s and David Kaplan, M.D.’s Mot. for Recons, of the Court’s Order on Mots, for Summ. J. (Docket # 94) (Defs.’ First Mot for Recons.). On February 10, 2011, the Court issued an order denying Defendants’ motion for reconsideration. Order Denying Mot. for Recons. (Docket # 106) {Recons. Order). In doing so, it found that the statements of Mr. Samaan’s proposed causation experts were “on their face sufficient to withstand summary judgment.” Id. at 16. The Court noted that “[i]f there are other reasons to exclude their testimony, these have not been raised and are not properly addressed in the context of the pending motion for summary judgment.” Id. at 16 n. 4.

On February 25, 2011, the Defendants filed a motion in limine, seeking to exclude the experts’ testimony, together with a motion for reconsideration. Defs. ’ Joint Mot. in Li-mine to Exclude Test, of Maryann Walsh, M.D. and/or Elsayed Hussein, M.D., and to Recons. Ruling on Mots, for Summ. J. (Docket #117) (Defs.’ Mot). Mr. Samaan responded on March 3, 2011. PI. ’s Mem. in Opp’n. to Defs.’ Joint Mot in Limine to Exclude Test of Maryann Walsh, M.D. and/or Elsayed Hussein, M.D., and to Recons. Ruling on Mots, for Summ. J. (Docket #121) (Pl.’s Opp’n.). The Defendants replied on March 10, 2011. Defs. ’ Joint Reply in Supp. of Defs.’ Mot. in Limine to Exclude Test of Maryann Walsh, M.D. and/or Elsayed Hussein, M.D. and to Recons. Ruling on Mots, for Summ. J. (Docket # 123) {Defs. ’ Reply).

II. MOTION IN LIMINE

A. The Defendants’ Contentions

The Defendants move to exclude expert opinion testimony from Maryann Walsh, M.D. and Elsayed Hussein, M.D., on the issue of causation on both procedural and substantive grounds.

1. Procedural Grounds for Exclusion

The Defendants argue that allowing Drs. Walsh and Hussein to testify would violate both the procedures established by the Court during this litigation and Federal Rule 26(a)(2)(A). Id. at 2-5 (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2)(A)). They assert that the Court “imposed in this case a rule that each party would be limited to one expert per issue.” Id. at 2. They observe that Mr. Samaan specifically designated Dr. Tikoo as his causation expert and argue that when the Court excluded Dr. Tikoo, “it excluded the only witness the plaintiff was allowed by Court Order to have offer expert testimony on the issue of causation.” Id. at 2-3. They argue that it would be highly prejudicial to allow Mr. Samaan to name new causation experts on the eve of trial. Id. at 3. The Defendants further note that Mr. Samaan never designated Drs. Walsh or Hussein “as expert witnesses with professional medical opinions on proximate cause.” Id. at 3-5. They assert that both Rule 26 and the Court’s Scheduling Order require such a designation and that Mr. Samaan’s failure to do so precluded the Defendants from objecting to the designations and preparing for the testimony. Id.

2. Substantive Grounds for Exclusion

Substantively, the Defendants argue that Mr. Samaan cannot establish a foundation to qualify Drs. Walsh or Hussein as expert witnesses on the Efficacy of t-PA in this case. Id. at 6-8. The Defendants draw the Court’s attention to Dr. Walsh’s affidavit to support their assertion that she is not qualified to testify as to the efficacy of t-PA. Defs. ’ Mot at 7. She states in her affidavit she is not a neurologist, that she calls a qualified neurologist if she ever “entertainfs] [44]*44the idea of using t-PA,” that she has never administered t-PA to a patient suffering from a cerebral vascular accident, that she is not professionally qualified to offer opinions on the likelihood of benefits to a patient receiving t-PA,1 that she does not have a professional medical opinion on the percentage of likelihood of improvement for Mr. Samaan had he received t-PA, and that she is “not qualified professionally to offer opinions on causation and/or damages in Mr. Samaan’s case.” Defs.’ Mot. Attach 3 (Walsh Aff.).

The Defendants then argue that “the [Mr. Samaan] has never produced any information to lay a proper foundation that Dr. Hussein is qualified to testify about the efficacy of t-PA.” Def.’s Mot. at 7-8. They note that Mr. Samaan has produced medical records that seem to establish “that Dr. Hussein is not a neurologist and that he has a private internal medicine practice at his office in Brooklyn, NY.” Id. at 7.

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Samaan v. St. Joseph Hospital, 274 F.R.D. 41, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35319, 2011 WL 1227771 (D. Me. 2011).

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