Opinion
Civil Action No. 04-997, Section: I/3.
May 12, 2006
ORDER AND REASONS
Before the Court is an expedited motion filed on behalf of plaintiffs, Kadlec Medical Center and Western Professional Insurance Company, to reconsider portions of the Court's order limiting the testimony of plaintiffs' experts. For the following reasons, plaintiffs' motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth below.
See Rec. Doc. No. 311.
The Court will issue a separate order and reasons addressing plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration as it pertains to their negligence claim.
With respect to the expert testimony of Peter Betts, the Court deferred its ruling until trial as plaintiffs had not sufficiently established that his opinions related to LRMC's policies and procedures vis-a-vis plaintiffs' misrepresentation claims would assist the jury. To the extent Betts's testimony pertains to plaintiffs' intentional and negligent misrepresentation claims, the Court will permit Betts to testify.
With respect to Dr. Lecky, the Court found that his testimony regarding certain moral and ethical duties, related and unrelated to the HCQIA and the Louisiana reporting regulation, would not assist the jury. The Court remains unpersuaded by plaintiffs' arguments that expert testimony as to defendants' ethical and/or moral duties would be helpful. Accordingly, Lecky will not be permitted to testify with respect to these issues, even if unrelated to the reporting laws.
Finally, with regard to Dr. Zoloth, the Court continues to consider his report insufficient to satisfy the requirements of Rule 702, Daubert and its progeny. However, recognizing that defendants did not depose Dr. Zoloth, if the expert witness can satisfy the Court, outside the presence of the jury, as to his qualifications and as to the relevance and reliability of his opinions, the Court will permit him to testify.