Hankla v. Postell
293 Ga. 692
| Ga. | 2013Background
- Plaintiff Anita Jackson Postell sued certified nurse midwife Vicki Hankla for alleged negligence during delivery that caused permanent brachial plexus injury to the infant (shoulder dystocia).
- At trial the defense’s sole disinterested medical expert was Dr. Sandra Brickman, a board-certified OB/GYN who regularly practiced and had personal experience managing shoulder dystocia.
- The jury returned a defense verdict after Dr. Brickman testified that Hankla met the standard of care.
- On appeal the Court of Appeals reversed, holding Brickman was not qualified under Georgia’s expert-witness statute because she neither was the same profession as Hankla nor had supervised nurse midwives as required by statute.
- The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether a physician who satisfies the statute’s "active practice" requirement but has not supervised/ taught the non-physician may testify about that non-physician’s standard of care.
- The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals: a physician must either be of the same profession as the defendant or have supervised/taught the relevant non-physician to qualify as an expert under OCGA § 24-7-702(c)(2).
Issues
| Issue | Postell's Argument | Hankla's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether a physician who meets the statute’s "active practice" requirement may testify about the standard of care for a nurse midwife without being same profession or supervisor | Physician experience handling the procedure suffices to qualify as expert | The statute requires either same profession or physician who supervised/taught non-physicians; active practice alone is insufficient | Held for Hankla: active practice alone is insufficient; expert must be same profession or meet supervision exception |
Key Cases Cited
- Smith v. Harris, 294 Ga. App. 333 (discusses grammatical construction requiring same-profession in conjunction with active practice/teaching)
- Ball v. Jones, 301 Ga. App. 340 (applies same-profession requirement for expert qualification)
- Pendley v. Southern Regional Health System, 307 Ga. App. 82 (physician not qualified to testify for nurse where supervision requirement unmet)
- Nathans v. Diamond, 282 Ga. 804 (statute aims to limit expert testimony to those with significant familiarity)
- Bacon County Hosp. & Health System v. Whitley, 319 Ga. App. 545 (experience with procedure does not replace same-profession/supervision requirement)
- Nowak v. High, 209 Ga. App. 536 (prior case allowing cross-profession testimony before statute change)