stating that "[w]here competent medical authority is divided, a physician will not be held responsible if in the exercise of his judgment he followed a course of treatment advocated by a considerable number of recognized and respected professionals in his given area of expertise.”
How later courts described this case
- stating that "[w]here competent medical authority is divided, a physician will not be held responsible if in the exercise of his judgment he followed a course of treatment advocated by a considerable number of recognized and respected professionals in his given area of expertise.”
- from time to time referring to the two schools doctrine as applicable in cases involving “medical practitioners” or “medical experts”
- “we do not attempt to place a numerical certainty on what constitutes a ‘considerable number’”
- allowing "two schools of thought” instruction in appropriate cases
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
ZAPPALA, Justice,
concurring.
While I join in the opinion, I vehemently disagree with the majority that the existence of two schools of medical thought may ever be a question of fact to be submitted to a jury. The *42 majority states that, “It then becomes a question for the jury to determine whether they believe that there are two legitimate schools of thought such that the defendant should be insulated from liability.” (Majority opinion at 41). It is the responsibility of the trial judge to determine in the first instance whether there are two schools of medical thought so that competent medical authority as to a course of treatment is divided. It is a question of law for the trial judge. It is not a question of fact. In all other respects, I agree with the majority’s analysis of the two schools of medical thought doctrine.