New York Naivete - Trust Me, I'm a Doctor

Kenneth L. Sanders MD, Self
Geoffrey B. Sanders, Broward County Public Defender's Office

Abstract

Under New York law, a defendant physician may submit a self-serving expiation of absence of negligence in lieu of an impartial, independent and impartial opinion of a third-party expert. This practice is iniquitous to a plaintiff who has suffered medical malpractice and who is required to pay for an independent physician’s affirmation that malpractice has taken place. Focusing attention upon the questionable origins of this principle may allow legal or legislative rectification.