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Who cares
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Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to higher education
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a new element for professional misconduct for providing expert witness testimony that is false or without reasonable medical foundation
Purpose
The purpose of the bill is to ensure expert witness testimony is true and with reasonable medical foundation by accepted peer-reviewed science-based medical research.
Summary of provisions
Section 1. Section 6530 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 50 that creates a new element of professional misconduct for providing medical expert witness testimony that is without reasonable medical foundation. Section 2. Establish an effective date of ninety days from when the bill is signed into law.
Justification
Many verdicts regarding medical malpractice in the United States are made by judges or juries. Because most jurors are not educated in medicine, courts depend on expert witnesses to help them understand and decide complex cases. To protect the rights of injured patients and innocent physicians, and to uphold legitimate standards of medical care, it is legally appropriate for persons with sufficient expertise to testify in medical malpractice cases.
As an expert witness, the individual has a responsibility to be objective, truthful, and impartial when evaluating a case and to use knowledge on the basis of generally accepted standards of clinical practice. This legislation will establish a new element for professional misconduct if an expert overstates or misrepresents his or her opinion or credentials or offers false testimony.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
NONE.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.