The plaintiff, Ancel Pratt Jr., was a varsity football player at his high school when a tackle injured him during a game. “After the tackle, he was unable to move for a few seconds.” A doctor who had been volunteering for the team ran over to the scene as soon as he saw what had happened. The doctor had previous experience in an emergency room and “had received some training in pediatric orthopedics and sports medicine.” Pratt was soon able to kick his legs and flip himself over even though he was complaining of extreme neck and shoulder pain. The doctor spent approximately 15 minutes with Pratt on the field questioning him about “areas of pain or altered sensations” before he conducted a brief medical examination. The doctor did not recall Pratt mentioning any loss of consciousness or paralysis and …show more content…
The court also affirms the liability and damages, as it was not brought up in the appeal hearing.

Reasoning

The courts found that the expert in question was applicable. The expert had plentiful experience and expertise in what to do in the situation as he has treated many of football players in the emergency room.
There were two statutes applied to the case in question:
Section 768.135, Florida Statutes states that “Any person licensed to practice medicine…shall not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or treatment… or failure to act in providing…medical treatment when such care or treatment was rendered as a reasonably prudent person similarly licensed to practice medicine would have acted under the same or similar conditions.” Pratt argues that the statute does not limit the expert opinion’s specialty to the same specialty as the doctor.
However, Section 766.102, Florida Statutes, claims that the expert must “specialize in the same specialty as the health care provider against whom the testimony is offered… and have prior experience treating similar