Medical standard-of-care expert
Expert class library · Personal injury · Either side
Opines whether a physician, nurse, or facility met the applicable standard of care and whether any breach caused the patient's injury. Must usually practice in the same or a similar specialty, and in some states must know the local or similar-community standard.
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Questions this testimony turns on
- What did the applicable standard of care require of the defendant provider in these circumstances, and where does that standard come from?
- How, specifically, did the defendant's care deviate from that standard?
- Is the expert qualified in the same or a similar specialty, or familiar with the required local standard?
- Did the deviation cause the patient's injury or death?
Methods
- Standard of care comparison
- Medical record review
- Causation analysis
- Clinical guideline review
How the testimony is attacked
- No familiarity with the required local standard. In states with a locality rule, defendants argue the expert never showed knowledge of the standard in the defendant's community or a similar one. In Gales v. Allenbrooke Nursing the Sixth Circuit affirmed exclusion, holding that a bare assertion of familiarity in the report does not satisfy Rule 702.
- Report that never states the standard. Defendants argue the report concludes there was a deviation without saying what the standard is, where it comes from, or how it was breached. In Rivera Rodriguez v. Hospital San Cristobal the First Circuit affirmed summary judgment after the district court excluded such a report under Rule 702.
- Different specialty from the defendant. Defendants argue the expert does not practice in the defendant's specialty. In Panczner v. Fraser the court denied a motion to strike an emergency physician testifying against a general surgeon, because his opinion addressed a standard common to all physicians, such as seeking current guidance when facing an unfamiliar condition.
- Failure to label the standard as national. Where a national standard applies, defendants argue the expert never called the standard national. In Martinez v. United States the First Circuit held that exclusion on that basis was error where the testimony described accepted clinical practice.
- Gaps in the written report under Rule 26. Defendants seek exclusion because the report omitted literature or bases later supplied at deposition. The Martinez court held that exclusion was too severe a sanction where the deposition cured the gaps and the defendant suffered little surprise or prejudice.
What the public record shows
Courts have filed at least 310 opinions since 2015 that discuss this class of testimony and cite Daubert or Rule 702, as of October 2, 2026. Three that show how courts handle this class of testimony:
| Outcome | Case | Court | Year | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excluded | Gales v. Allenbrooke Nursing & Rehabilitation Center91 F.4th 433 | 6th Cir. | 2024 | The Sixth Circuit affirmed exclusion of the plaintiff's standard-of-care expert in a Tennessee nursing home case because his report merely asserted familiarity with a statewide standard and did not show knowledge of the local or similar-community standard. |
| Admitted | Panczner v. Fraser374 F. Supp. 3d 1063 | D. Colo. | 2019 | The court denied the motion to strike the plaintiff's emergency medicine expert in a case against a general surgeon, because his opinion concerned a duty common to all physicians to seek current guidance when treating an unfamiliar condition. |
| Exclusion reversed | Martinez v. United States33 F.4th 20 | 1st Cir. | 2022 | The First Circuit held the district court erred in excluding the plaintiffs' standard-of-care expert, because his testimony identified accepted clinical practice and causation adequately and the report gaps did not justify exclusion. |
Each case links to the free opinion text on CourtListener.
In federal court: amended Rule 702
In federal court, since December 1, 2023, Rule 702 says expressly that the party offering an expert must show the court it is more likely than not that the testimony meets each requirement: that it rests on sufficient facts or data, uses reliable methods, and reflects a reliable application of those methods to the case. Questions about the basis of an opinion are no longer automatically matters of weight for the jury. For how the circuits have applied the amendment, see the Rule 702 tracker, which follows each court of appeals; for what that means for preparing or attacking this class of expert, see the guide on amended Rule 702.
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Updated October 2, 2026. How this page is built: rulings are found by searching court opinions on CourtListener. The summaries are written by AI working from the full text of each opinion, and every citation and link is checked automatically. Outcomes are labelled by what the court did with the expert’s testimony. No individual expert is named. This page summarises public decisions for orientation and is not legal advice; read the opinion before relying on any ruling. Spotted an error? Tell us.