Opinion
Case No. 3D03-42.
Opinion filed May 26, 2004.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Jennifer D. Bailey, Judge, Lower Tribunal No. 01-6434.
Ratzan Alters; Angelo, Barry Boldt and Kimberly L. Boldt, for appellants.
Wicker, Smith, O'Hara, McCoy, Graham Ford and Shelley H. Leinicke for appellee, N. Ralph Frankel, M.D.; Parenti, Falk, Waas, Hernandez Cortina and Gail Leverett Parenti, for appellee, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, d/b/a Tenet Physicians Services.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., SHEVIN and WELLS, JJ.
We affirm the final judgment. We hold that the court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the proffered documents. The trial court has broad discretion in determining the admissibility of evidence. Hendry v. Zelaya, 841 So.2d 572 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). The plaintiffs' expert testified as to the same matter the documents would have illustrated: the standard of care the defendant-physician should have exercised, and how the patient's care should have been coordinated. Therefore, the exclusion was not an abuse of discretion. See Parker v. State, 29 Fla. L. Weekly S27 (Fla. Jan. 22, 2004) (exclusion of letters to attorney not abuse of discretion where attorney testified to same facts contained in letters). We also hold that the trial court did not err in limiting the scope of the expert's testimony. Castillo v. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Co., 854 So.2d 1264 (Fla. 2003).
Affirmed.