A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Antonio challenges how two national orthopedic organizations disciplined a physician over his expert testimony in medical-malpractice cases. Dr. Thomas DeBerardino, a professor of orthopedic surgery at UT Health San Antonio, sued the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons on October 22, alleging their actions damaged his expert-witness work.
Suspension, Then Expulsion
According to the San Antonio Express-News, which first reported the lawsuit, the two orthopedic organizations suspended DeBerardino in October 2024 and then expelled him in February 2026. DeBerardino claims the organizations defamed him, violated his First Amendment right to free speech, and interfered with his prospective business relationships. He is seeking damages, attorney fees, and a court declaration that the groups violated his rights and that their disciplinary rules are unlawful.
The Express-News reported that DeBerardino testified in nearly 100 cases over 13 years, generally for patients suing surgeons. He alleges the organizations’ actions cost him further expert-witness work. His lawsuit also says UTSA removed him as head team orthopedic surgeon because of his testimony. UTSA is not a defendant, and the newspaper reported that DeBerardino remained listed as a team physician on the university’s athletics page.
What the AAOS Board Found
The underlying discipline traces back to a Board of Directors meeting that the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons says took place on June 10, 2024, when it considered three grievances against DeBerardino under its Professional Compliance Program, according to AAOS. Per the Express-News, four doctors filed grievances against DeBerardino over his malpractice testimony between 2022 and 2024. Two of the three grievances concerned testimony in cases involving a wrist fracture and a fatal blood clot, the association's board said, while the third also centered on the patient who died of a blood clot.
In its account of the wrist-fracture matter, the association said the patient was a 57-year-old man whose distal radius fracture was treated with pin fixation and who later needed a retained pin removed. The board found that DeBerardino had not reviewed all pertinent opinions and records and that some of his statements were not fair and impartial. It said he violated Mandatory Standards Nos. 2, 4 and 6 and voted for a one-year suspension.
The Pulmonary Embolism Case
A separate grievance centered on a 63-year-old man who died three weeks after a quadriceps tendon repair, with the cause identified as a saddle pulmonary embolism and an accompanying deep vein thrombosis in his right leg, according to the association's account on its own site. In that case, the board said it found that DeBerardino knowingly provided false testimony. The board announced two concurrent one-year suspensions after considering the three grievances in 2024, according to AAOS Now.
The Express-News reported that the board later considered a fourth grievance, concerning a knee replacement, and voted to expel DeBerardino. The board faulted his criticism of the surgeon’s implant choice and preoperative evaluation, saying his opinions lacked sufficient support and condemned care within accepted practice standards. The newspaper reported that the board also considered his earlier suspensions.
DeBerardino Pushes Back
DeBerardino disputes the board’s characterization of his testimony. The Express-News reported that he said his opinions had never been disqualified, that he had not been impeached and that no court had found his testimony partial or prejudicial. In at least one malpractice case referenced in the lawsuit, a jury found the surgeon negligent and awarded $12.5 million to the patient’s estate, the newspaper reported.
Court qualification is a separate question
For a physician to testify as an expert in a Texas medical-malpractice case, the Supreme Court of Texas has explained that Chapter 74 requires knowledge, skill, experience, training or education relevant to the specific issue on which the witness would offer an opinion, according to the Supreme Court of Texas. That qualification standard is distinct from the orthopedic organizations’ internal rules for disciplining members over testimony.
Deanna Killackey, a spokesperson cited by the Express-News, said the two organizations do not comment on pending litigation. DeBerardino is represented by Dallas attorney Dave Wishnew. The newspaper described the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons as providing musculoskeletal education for orthopedic surgeons and the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons as focusing on health policy and advocacy for the profession and patients.
How orthopedic groups have handled other testimony disputes
The dispute lands amid a longer history of professional groups policing expert testimony. The defendants established their Professional Compliance Program in 2005 to review and adjudicate alleged inappropriate or fraudulent expert testimony, according to the Express-News. AAOS records show the board has used similar sanctions against other members: in 2021, the board upheld findings that David C. Ring's expert testimony violated Mandatory Standards Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6 and suspended him for one year, according to AAOS. That grievance had been filed in May 2019.
In 2020, the board went further, voting to expel Richard A. Matza after finding he violated multiple professional standards tied to his expert testimony, as reported by AAOS Now. The same year, the board censured Eric G. Meinberg after finding his testimony was not fair and impartial and condemned care that fell within generally accepted practice, and it censured James R. Ross after panels found his expert opinions violated mandatory standards on fairness and board certification. Similar scrutiny has extended beyond orthopedics — the American Association of Neurological Surgeons has reviewed 29 professional-conduct cases since 1983, 24 of them involving improper legal testimony, with sanctions imposed in 19, according to Healio.
