Elizabeth Kavaler Case Summary

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In March 2009 defendants retained as a consulting expert Elizabeth Kavaler, M.D. In October 2009, while reviewing medical records of a plaintiff who had filed suit two months earlier, defense counsel discovered that Dr. Kavaler had surgically implanted a Gynecare product during treatment of that plaintiff. Defense counsel immediately informed plaintiffs’ liaison counsel and advised Dr. Kavaler not to disclose to the defense any information about the plaintiff she had treated. Defense counsel then discontinued discussion with Dr. Kavaler pending determination of her eligibility to serve as a defense expert. Later, the plaintiff who had been treated by Dr. Kavaler testified in deposition that she stopped seeing Dr. Kavaler in July 2008, that …show more content…

In January 2011, defendants moved to establish a protocol similar to ones used in some federal litigation for consulting with and possibly retaining as defense experts physicians who had treated a plaintiff in the pelvic mesh litigation. Defendants proposed that a treating physician would have no communication with the defense about his or her own patient-plaintiff and would not be used as an expert witness in the patient-plaintiff’s own case. Plaintiffs’ counsel opposed the motion and cross-moved for a protective order barring defendants from retaining or consulting with any physician who at any time had treated any of the plaintiffs in the pelvic mesh litigation. Decision: After the parties provided additional information, the trial court issued an order and written decision dated May 26, 2011 barring defendants from consulting with or retaining any physician who had at any time treated any plaintiff in the pelvic mesh litigation as identified in plaintiffs’ list. At the time of the court’s order, the number of plaintiffs had risen to more than 220. One thousand physicians were thus disqualified as potential defense experts. At the time appellate briefs were filed in December 2011, the list numbered about 450 plaintiffs and about 1,300

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