Expert Witness Vindicated by North Carolina Appeals Court

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The North Carolina Court of Appeals has reinstated the medical license of a Miami, Florida neurosurgeon who had been disciplined by the North Carolina Medical Board for his testimony on behalf of the plaintiffs in a medical malpractice case. The court's decision reversed the findings of the Board and the Wake County trial court, both of which had decided that Dr. Gary Lustgarten's North Carolina license should be revoked.

Doctor Lustgarten had testified in a pretrial deposition that the care of a patient by two neurosurgeons was below the standard of care, and that based upon the facts of the case he had difficulty believing the accuracy of one of the entries in the medical record made by one of the defendant neurosurgeons. The Medical Board later charged that Dr. Lustgarten had misrepresented the standard of care and testified without evidence that one of the doctors falsified the medical record to protect his partner.

...Dr. Lustgarten had a good faith basis for making the statement for which the Medical Board seeks to impose discipline. N.C. Court of Appeals

This is a great victory for patients and families of those who have been injured or killed as the result of medical malpractice. Many doctors feel that the Medical Board's actions, and others like it around the country, are but one of many tactics by the medical profession to intimidate physicians who are willing to stand up for patients who have been injured at the hands of another healthcare provider.