Plaintiff seeks damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained in an automobile accident. Prior to trial, defendant had the plaintiff examined by a board certified orthopedic surgeon who prepared a written report describing his examination and conclusions. In the report, the physician identified a number of published medical articles that presumably supported the opinions contained in the report. Plaintiff’s counsel demanded that defendant supply copies of the articles. The orthopedic surgeon refused to produce copies of the articles claiming that to provide copies of the articles would violate unspecified copyright laws.
The court ordered the defendant to supply plaintiff’s counsel with copies of the articles within 20 days. If the defendant fails to supply copies of the articles to plaintiff’s counsel within 20 days, the orthopedic surgeon is precluded from referring to the articles during his testimony at trial.