Atlanta medical malpractice attorney Darren Summerville recently brought the Georgia Court of Appeals a question on behalf of the estate of a plaintiff-appellant who died from malaria after returning to Atlanta from a trip to Africa. Now, following oral arguments Thursday, it’s up to the court to determine the qualifications of an expert witness testifying on causation when treating a disease that is uncommon in the United States.

At issue here is the applicability of “actual knowledge’ concepts to causation opinions. The trial court said that the plaintiff-appellant’s expert witnesses couldn’t testify on causation because they didn’t have actual professional knowledge and experience diagnosing and treating severe malaria and they were not infectious disease physicians.

A portrait of Darren Summerville. Summervile has short brown hair and is wearing a white dress shirt and black blazer. Darren Summerville of The Summerville Firm in Atlanta. (Courtesy photo)

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