Here is the lead in for an piece on federalevidence.com blog:
In medical malpractice case, trial court’s exclusion of defense expert as unqualified was not harmless error; the defense expert’s opinion that the plaintiff’s expert’s conclusion was not supported by the medical literature plaintiff cited did not require the defense expert to have as much specialized “training and experience” as the opposing expert whom he critiqued, in Huss v. Gayden, __ F.3d __ (5th Cir. June 10, 2009) (No. 04-60962)
The lack of precision in the Daubert test for the admission of expert witness testimony serves as a source of its remarkable flexibility and also as a source of frustration to practitioners. It is clear that under Daubert, an expert witness need not be a star in his or her field to qualify. On the other hand, minimal preparation or training frequently is insufficient for expert qualification. The Fifth Circuit recently probed the question of just when an expert is “expert enough” in a medical malpractice case. The result reached by the circuit demonstrates that expertise is a matter that must be assessed within the context of the evidence presented and arguments that will be made at trial.