Melville v. Southward

Southward (defendant), a podiatrist, performed toe-shortening surgery on Melville (plaintiff) in his office, and Melville's foot subsequently became infected, requiring hospitalization and permanently impairing her ability to walk and balance; Melville sued for medical malpractice and offered orthopedic surgeon Barnard as her expert, over Southward's objection that Melville had not shown Barnard knew podiatry's applicable standard of care. Barnard testified Southward's surgical and post-operative care fell below acceptable standards, but also admitted he had never performed the surgery himself, lacked formal podiatric training, and did not know podiatry-specific standards of care; the jury awarded Melville damages, but the court of appeals reversed for lack of admissible evidence of negligence, and Melville appealed.