Samsun Corp. v. Bennett

838 A.2d 381, 154 Md. App. 59, 2003 Md. App. LEXIS 167
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedDecember 11, 2003
DocketNo. 2705
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 838 A.2d 381 (Samsun Corp. v. Bennett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Samsun Corp. v. Bennett, 838 A.2d 381, 154 Md. App. 59, 2003 Md. App. LEXIS 167 (Md. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

DAVIS, Judge.

In this appeal, we are called upon to address the issue of whether an expert witness with general knowledge may be qualified to testify as to subject matter involving special knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education. In prior decisions of the Court of Appeals and this Court, the necessity for expert testimony to prove causation has been thoroughly discussed. As will be discussed more fully, infra, the necessity to produce an expert to establish the requisite standard of [62]*62care when deficient medical care is alleged has been addressed. To a lesser extent, prior decisions have dealt with the qualifications requisite for a witness possessing general knowledge to testify as to a specialized field. We shall hold that deference is to be accorded the trial court in determining whether an expert with general knowledge is sufficiently conversant with the subject matter to render an opinion as to a specialized area of study.

On March 21, 2000, appellee Jeffrey Bennett filed a negligence action in the Circuit Court for Harford County against appellant Samsun Corporation, d/b/a Singer Exxon. The suit originated from appellee’s slip and fall accident in the restroom of the Singer Exxon, from which appellee alleged he suffered lower back injury and resulting erectile dysfunction. The case was tried before a jury on December 3 and 4, 2002. On the first day of trial, appellant filed a motion in limine, requesting that the court exclude the testimony of appellee’s orthopaedic expert witness, Dr. Vincent Osteria. The motion was preliminarily denied by the trial judge. Appellant renewed the motion in limine after Dr. Osteria was questioned on his qualifications and training as an orthopaedist, but the trial judge again denied the motion.

At the close of all of the evidence, appellant filed a Motion for Judgment on the grounds that appellee did not establish causation between the accident and his injuries. The motion was denied and, on December 4, 2002, the jury returned a verdict in favor of appellee in the amount of $111,662.50. Following the verdict, appellant filed a Motion for New Trial on December 16, 2002, which the lower court denied on January 8, 2003. Appellant filed this timely appeal on January 21, 2003, presenting one question, which we divide into two questions and rephrase as follows:

I. Did the trial court err by denying appellant’s motion in limine to exclude the testimony of appellee’s expert witness?
II. Did the trial court err by denying appellant’s motion for judgment, which alleged that there was insufficient [63]*63evidence to establish a causal connection between ap-pellee’s accident/back injury and his erectile dysfunction?

We answer appellant’s questions in the negative and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On August 1, 1998, appellee suffered a slip and fall on the restroom floor of the Singer Exxon, which is located in Bel Air, Maryland. Appellee suffered an injury to his lower back as a result of the fall and was treated by an orthopaedist, Dr. Vincent Osteria, on August 4, 1998. During the examination, appellee alleged that he suffered pain and numbness on the left side of his lower body, specifically in the left buttocks and foot. Although no surgery was necessary, appellee remained in the care of Dr. Osteria for several weeks and during that time appellee complained of developing bladder, bowel, and erectile dysfunctions.1 As a result of the erectile dysfunction, Dr. Osteria referred appellee to a urologist, Dr. James Song, in November 2000. Dr. Song, however, was either unwilling or unable to render a conclusion as to the exact cause of appellee’s erectile dysfunction.

Appellee subsequently filed a negligence action against appellant. One of the primary issues at trial was the cause of appellee’s erectile dysfunction. Appellee called Dr. Osteria as an expert witness to testify that the erectile dysfunction had resulted from the slip and fall at the Singer Exxon. In response, appellant filed a motion in limine to exclude Dr. Osteria’s testimony, arguing that he was not qualified to testify as an expert. Specifically, appellant claimed that, because Dr. Osteria was an orthopaedist specializing in spinal injury and not in urology, he lacked the necessary knowledge [64]*64required to form an expert opinion concerning appellee’s erectile dysfunction. The trial judge denied the motion and Dr. Osteria was permitted to establish his qualifications and training as an orthopaedist. After the witness foundation was laid, appellant renewed the motion in limine to exclude Dr. Osteria’s testimony. The trial judge again denied the motion and Dr. Osteria was permitted to testify concerning appellee’s erectile dysfunction.

On October 31, 2002, Dr. Osteria prepared the following report detailing appellee’s injury:

I: [Appellee] is having more pain in the left leg but he continues to work and he is managing with short haul trucking. He cannot do the long haul work. He also wants to have another epidural block and his insurance is just about to cut in again so he is going to think about getting that done. He is due to go to court in December as well.
IMPRESSION: As far as I am concerned, this man has a symptomatic herniated disc with radiculopathy. It’s been proven clearly by MR scan, etc. and is directly as a result of his fall in the gas station as I outlined in my original notes.
DIAGNOSIS: HNP L5-S1 with radiculopathy.
DISPOSITION: Follow-up as necessary.
Note: He continues to experience sexual dysfunction, in my opinion, as a result of his fall, although I have referred him to a urologist for urological opinion. Reviewing my old chart, shows no evidence of these complaints prior to the fall in 1998.

Dr. Osteria testified that, when he had treated appellee on the occasions prior to the accident at the Singer Exxon, a herniated disc bulged to the right of appellee’s spine, whereas after the accident, a larger bulging disc protruded to the left. It was Dr. Osteria’s medical opinion that the bulge to the left was a new injury resulting from the slip and fall and that the left bulge was “picking off’ nerve roots that exited from appellee’s lower spine.

[65]*65As explained by Dr. Osteria, orthopaedics is “the study and treatment of skeleton, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, the spine and extremities.” Furthermore, Dr. Osteria testified that the field of orthopaedics includes the study of nerves emanating from the spinal cord and the consequences of injury to those nerves. On direct examination, Dr. Osteria testified:

[APPELLEE’S COUNSEL]: Counsel asked if you trained in the field of urology or field of erectile dysfunction. Do you have any education or training concerning the relationship between injuries to the spinal cord and nerves emanating from the spinal cord and the occurrence of erectile dysfunction?
[WITNESS]: Yes, sir.
[APPELLEE’S COUNSEL]: Tell us about that.

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Bluebook (online)
838 A.2d 381, 154 Md. App. 59, 2003 Md. App. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/samsun-corp-v-bennett-mdctspecapp-2003.