norml11 - Page 30
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for a doctor to employ a method of treatment supported by a respectable minority
of physicians.
In Hood v, Phillips, 537 S,W_ Zd-291 {1976) the Texas Court of Civil
Appeals was dealing, w_th a claim of medica_ ma_practi<:e resulting from a
.surg_ca_ procedure claimed to have been unnecessary t The court quoted from an
Arizona court decision ho!!d_ng, that "
a method of treatment, as espoused and used 0y o . . a
respectable minority of physicians in the United States,
cannot be sa_d to be an inappropriate method of treat-
meat or to be malpractice as a matter of _aw even though
it has not been accepted as a proper method of treatment
by the medical profession generally°
!bid. at 294. Not#ng that the Federal District court _n the Arizona case found
a _respectable minority" composed of si×ty:f#ve physicians throughout the Un#ted
States, the Texas court adopted as "the better rule" to apply _n its case, that
a physician is not guilty of malpractice where the
method of treatment used is supported by a respect-
able minority of physicians.
[bid.
In Chumbler v. NcClure, .505 Fo2d 489 (6th Ciro 1974) the Federal courts
were deal_ng with a medical malpractice case under their diversity jurisdiction,
applying Tennessee law. The Court of Appeals said:
. . o The most favorable interpretation that may be
placed on the testimony adduced at trial below is
that there is a division of _pi_ioa in the medilcal
profession regardin9 the use of Premarin in the Treat-
ment of cerebral vascu'_ar insufficiency, and that Dr.
McC1ure was atone among neurosurgeons in Nashville in
using such therapy. The test for ma,!pract_ce and for
community standards is mot to be determined solely by
a plebiscite. Where two or more schools of thought
exist among competent members of the. medica_ profes_
sion concerning proper medical treatment for a given
ailment, each of which _s ._pported by _sponsio_e
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