Carbaugh v. Asbestos Corporation: The Courts Interpret Expert Testimony in Utah Case

The issue of how the Court would interpret the expert testimony exception is further discussed in this section of the Opinion in Carbaugh v. Asbestos Corporation. This Opinion involves a number of asbestos plaintiffs who sought relief after finding that their medical expert, although a licensed and credentialed physician in other states, was not licensed to practice medicine in Utah.

Our interpretation of the expert testimony exception does not undermine the important policy considerations underlying the Act. The defendants contend that the public policy behind the Act is to protect the citizens of Utah from the unlicensed practice of medicine. This statement is both true and incomplete.

Exceptions to the Act clearly permit physicians licensed in other states but not in Utah to practice medicine here. For example, a physician not licensed in Utah may practice medicine in Utah in response to an emergency situation. Id. § 58-67-305(1). Also, supervised students or physicians employed by the military can engage in the full practice of medicine without seeking Utah licensure. Utah Code Ann. § 58-1-307(1).

Thus, the Act does not represent a wholesale mistrust of nonlicensees, and its primary purpose is not to exclude all nonlicensees from practicing medicine within the state. In fact, the Act recognizes that, in some circumstances, Utah citizens will benefit from the services of nonlicensees practicing medicine in the state.

We create no public policy precedent, then, when we interpret the expert testimony exception to similarly extend to our citizens the benefit of fully developed expert testimony from physicians licensed to practice medicine in other states. Pre-testimony examinations and testimony in legal proceedings are therefore exempted from the strictures of the Act.

Courtesy of the Utah State Courts

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