[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 19-10869 ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 1:15-cv-00056-LAG

TAMANCHIA MOORE,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

INTUITIVE SURGICAL, INC.,

Defendant-Appellee.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia ________________________

(April 22, 2021) Before ROSENBAUM, LAGOA, and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 19-10869 Date Filed: 04/22/2021 Page: 2 of 38

LAGOA, Circuit Judge:

Tamanchia Moore underwent a robotically-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy procedure. Following that procedure, Moore began to suffer from severe abdominal pain and an inability to urinate. In her quest to discover the source of her pain, Moore learned that her left ureter 1 was burned during the hysterectomy procedure. Moore further discovered that the doctor who performed the laparoscopic hysterectomy used tools during the procedure produced by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., and that the tool at issue—a pair of miniature electrified scissors— was susceptible to forming microcracks along the shaft, which could leak electrical current during operations and burn the surrounding flesh. This same tool was subsequently recalled in the months following her surgery. Based on this information, Moore sued Intuitive for her injuries, seeking money damages to compensate her for the injuries she had suffered.

To assist in proving her claim against Intuitive, Moore retained the services of Dr. Michael Hall to testify as an expert witness on (1) the standard of care in hysterectomy procedures and (2) the cause of her injuries. Dr. Hall is a board- certified OB/GYN who practices gynecological surgery in Englewood, Colorado, and teaches Obstetrics and Gynecology as an Assistant Professor at the University

1 The ureter is a long tube that carries urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. There are two ureters—one attached to each kidney. The upper half of the ureter is located in the abdomen and the lower half is located in the pelvic area. 2 USCA11 Case: 19-10869 Date Filed: 04/22/2021 Page: 3 of 38

of Colorado’s medical school. During his more-than-forty-year career, Dr. Hall has performed over four thousand hysterectomies. In addition to his clinical training and practical experience, Dr. Hall has served on hospital review committees and quality assurance committees. In particular, he served on one quality assurance committee for ten years, where he reviewed complications arising in a variety of gynecological procedures—including ureteral injuries occurring during hysterectomy procedures.

Intuitive moved to exclude the testimony of Dr. Hall, arguing that, because Dr. Hall does not use the instruments at issue in this case, he was not qualified to render expert testimony on the cause of Moore’s injury. According to Intuitive, it was irrelevant that Dr. Hall had performed that same procedure with different tools over four thousand times. After a two-day Daubert hearing2, the district court agreed with Intuitive’s position and excluded Dr. Hall’s testimony. And because Dr. Hall was Moore’s only causation expert, the district court then entered summary judgment in favor of Intuitive. As discussed below, the district court erred in its application of Daubert and therefore improperly ent