Orthopedic Surgery Expert’s Testimony on Knee Injury Admitted
Posted on October 1, 2025 by Expert Witness Profiler
Plaintiff Maria Marano slipped and fell while at a Sam’s Club store. She subsequently filed a negligence lawsuit against Defendant Sam’s East, Inc., alleging that she sustained a meniscal tear in her knee as a result of the fall.
Defendant disputes whether there is a causal connection between the fall and injury.
Marano offered Dr. Thomas Parent, who surgically repaired her knee, as an expert witness. He testified that the fall caused Marano’s injury. Defendant filed a motion to exclude Parent under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert.
Orthopedic Surgery Expert Witness
Dr. Thomas Parent, M.D., is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon & Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons with expertise in hand, wrist, shoulder & knee surgery. With over 25 years of experience, he specializes in regenerative medicine using biologics and stem cell therapy for tissue repair. Parent has a strong academic background with training from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Loma Linda University Medical Center. He is committed to providing personalized care and has a history of community involvement and academic contributions in orthopedic surgery.
Discussion by the Court
Parent came to his causation opinion after examining Marano, considering her medical history, reviewing MRIs, evaluating clinical symptoms, and ultimately performing surgery. This type of methodology is generally accepted for medical injuries.
Although the Defendant criticized Parent for not performing a differential diagnosis to exclude alternative causes of the Plaintiff’s alleged injuries, the Court was not persuaded. The Defendant failed to present evidence of any other incident that could have caused the injuries treated by Parent. Nor is there any reason to doubt Parent’s treatment was inadequate to rule out other causes.
Defendant also claimed that Parent’s opinions are unreliable because (1) they are based solely on what Marano told him; (2) he did not review any medical records that predate the fall; and (3) he failed to rule out any alternative cause. These arguments likewise failed to persuade the Court.
Parent’s opinions are not based solely on what Marano told him. He has a treatment history with Marano, performed the surgery, and reviewed the only prior medical records (an MRI from 2015) available when forming his opinions. He testified that he would have considered an alternative explanation for the injuries if such information had been presented, but it wasn’t.
Held
The Court denied the Defendant’s motion to exclude the testimony of Thomas Parent, M.D.
Key Takeaways:
- A physician’s causation opinions need only be “sufficiently related to the information disclosed during the course of Plaintiff’s treatment.”
- A doctor usually may primarily base his opinion as to the cause of a Plaintiff’s injuries on his history where the Plaintiff has sustained a common injury in a way that it commonly occurs.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Marano V. Sam’s East, Inc. Et Al |
| Docket Number: | United States District Court, Florida Middle |
| Court Name: | United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division |
| Order Date: | September 18, 2025 |
