PA Superior Court Affirms Right of Defendant to Ask Plaintiff's Doctor at Trial if Plaintiff's Attorney Referred Plaintiff (Non-Precedential)

Tort Talkers may recall a previous blog post on the Philadelphia County trial court's decision in the case of Fullam v. Miller Bros., et al. in which that court upheld a Defendant's right in a personal injury matter to cross-examine the Plaintiff's doctor on the fact that the Plaintiff was referred to the doctor by Plaintiff's attorney.  To review that blog post, click HERE.


UPDATE:  In its April 30, 2014 "non-precedential" Memorandum Opinion, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the trial court's decision.  See Fullam v. Miller Bros, et al., No. 106 EDA 2014 (Pa.Super. 2014 Bender, P.J, Ott, J., Strassburger, J.)(mem. op. by Ott, J.)(dissenting op. by Strassburger, J.).

Concisely, the Pennsylvania Superior Court agreed  that cross-examination of the Plaintiff's doctor as to the source from which the Plaintiff obtained the name of the doctor was relevant to the potential bias of the doctor.

The Superior Court's majority non-precedential memorandum opinion may be viewed HERE.  Judge Strassburger's dissenting opinion may be viewed HERE.


Source:  Supplement to 32nd Annual Pennsylvania Auto Insurance Law Book (2014) issued by the Pennsylvania Association for Justice.