WEST PALM BEACH – A Florida appeals court has reversed and remanded medical malpractice litigation originally brought in a Broward County court, finding that the use of an expert witness was unnecessary and that a defense witness was improperly excluded from the proceedings.

Florida Fourth District Court of Appeals Judge Melanie G. May handed down a ruling to that effect on July 3, in Maria Joanna Lazzari and Morela Lazzari’s lawsuit versus Pablo Guzman, M.D., and Holy Cross Hospital, Inc.

“The defendant doctor began treating the patient in 2012. In 2013, the doctor diagnosed the patient with mitral-valve stenosis, recommended a mitral valve replacement and suggested a cardiac surgeon. The patient chose a different cardiac surgeon and underwent cardiac surgery in January of 2014. The surgery went well and the cardiac surgeon discharged the patient from the hospital three days later. He did not prescribe an anticoagulant medication for the patient at that time. The patient was next seen in the office by the cardiac surgeon’s colleague a couple of weeks after surgery. The colleague also did not prescribe an anticoagulant medication. The patient returned to the doctor approximately one month after surgery. According to the doctor’s evaluation, the patient was not experiencing any post-surgery complications,” May said.