Well, if I have a really obvious case of negligence, and Im injured severely, can I just file suit and proceed without expert witnesses?
No. The legislature has passed a law that requires the plaintiff’s attorney to file a certification that he has consulted an expert witness, and that the expert has reviewed the case and has concluded that it has merit. The next time someone tells you that there are too many “frivolous” malpractice lawsuits, you should remind them that no medical malpractice case can be filed in Colorado unless a medical expert has reviewed the case and found it to have merit. In any event, there is such thing as an “obvious” case. Well, that’s probably not true. You may recall reading about the teenaged girl in North Carolina who underwent a heart and lung transplant but the donor had the wrong blood type. There, it is obvious that someone was negligent, though exactly who might be unclear. In another recent case, a woman in Minnesota had her healthy breasts removed after the pathology laboratory got her tissue biopsy sample mixed up with that of another patient. Again, those cases are pretty obvious.
