Stokes

*950 Health and Safety Code section 1799.110, subdivision (c) states: "In any action for damages involving a claim of negligence against a physician and surgeon providing emergency medical coverage for a general acute care hospital emergency department, the court shall admit expert medical testimony only from physicians and surgeons who have had substantial professional experience within the last five years while assigned to provide emergency medical coverage in a general acute care hospital emergency department." 1 In this appeal, we must decide whether this expert qualification requirement applies to all expert medical testimony in a negligence action against an emergency room doctor, or whether it applies only to medical testimony regarding the standard of care.

Plaintiffs Clara and Vaughn Stokes sued defendant Ellen Baker, M.D., alleging Dr. Baker negligently failed to diagnose a subarachnoid hemorrhage afflicting Ms. Stokes when she presented to Dr. Baker's emergency department. They alleged Dr. Baker's negligence caused Ms. Stokes's aneurysm to *951 go untreated until it ruptured, resulting in the cognitive and neurological difficulties Ms. Stokes now experiences.

The…