Gustavo A. Pesantes, Jr., as Administrator of the Succession of Gustavo Adolph Pesantes v. United States

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

On first analysis, this appeal seemed to involve a simple procedural question under the Federal Rules of Evidence: Did the district court err in excluding the testimony of an expert medical specialist, unfamiliar with medical practices in the locality (Greater New Orleans)? Closer consideration of the case leads us to conclude that it turns on a substantive principle of law: In a malpractice case, the duty of care imposed on a medical specialist is governed by the standard of care within the specialty itself, regardless of the locality where the operation was performed.…