Joan Vecchio v. Women & Infants Hospital

Summary

The Rhode Island Supreme Court held that the trial justice abused her discretion in granting a protective order that limited plaintiff Joan Vecchio’s expert, Dr. David Brewster, to causation testimony and barred supplementation of his disclosure to include postoperative standard‑of‑care opinions. The Court quashed the Superior Court’s order, finding Vecchio had complied with scheduling orders and that the sanction was unwarranted. A dissent argued the majority departed from established Rule 37 jurisprudence.