Articles Posted in Researching Experts

Managed care expert witnesses may opine on liability insurance, HMOs, and related issues. The Physicians Insurers Association Research Department reviews data, issues, and policies concerning the medical professional liability insurance industry to produce helpful resources.

Semi-annually, the PIAA analyzes data captured by the PIAA Data Sharing Project to develop a national overview of claim trends, and to identify areas of practice most vulnerable to assertions about liability. The Association uses the data gleaned from those reports to compose relevant white papers and major studies. The PIAA also works with other associations and medical society groups in joint research projects aimed at improving the delivery of healthcare and reducing practitioner liability.

Read more: piaa.us.

Insurance regulation expert witnesses may write reports and opine on insurance claims, insurance business customs and practices, and related topics. Here, the American Insurance Association defines SAP:

Statutory Accounting Principle (SAP): Those principles required by state insurance laws followed by an insurance company when submitting its financial statements to the various state insurance departments. Such principles differ from Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) in some important respects. For example, SAP requires that expenses must be recorded immediately and cannot be deferred to track with premiums as they are earned and taken into revenue.

Insurance practices expert witnesses may write reports and opine on insurance claims, insurance coverage, casualty insurance, and related topics. Here, the American Insurance Association defines casualty insurance:

Insurance primarily concerned with the legal liability for losses caused by injury to persons or damage to property of others. Also includes, among other coverages: automobile, workers’ compensation, employers’ liability, general liability, plate glass, theft and personal liability. It excludes life, fire and marine insurance.

Collision analysis expert witness A. Zhukov, Ph.D., describes what type of stored data may be retrieved in a “black box” using Vetronix Crash Data Retrieval Tool (CDR Tool).

The CDR Tool is capable of harvesting information from vehicle’s SDM and RCM. The device records data on a laptop PC which could later be transferred to any other device, if needed. Recorded data depends on vehicle make, model and year. The following data is typical of what is found on a newer GM vehicle:

* Vehicle speed ( 5 seconds before impact )

In Chest Pain & Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice expert witness Barry Gustin, M.D. writes:

As you can see, the evaluation of chest pain is often highly subjective and imperfect. The differential diagnosis of chest pain alone (approximately 20 common and 15 not so common entities) is enough to dazzle and amaze any attorney as he/she strives to understand the facts of the case. It is no surprising that 20% of malpractice dollar losses by emergency physicians in the US involve the diagnosis and management of patients with acute chest pain.

The only way to make sense of any medical case, especially the complex one, is to have a knowledgeable physician review it an give you the medical insight and understanding you seek.

Construction Accident Reconstruction, 2d edition, by Calvin Zemsky, P.E., and Jon R. Abele Esq, contains data and statistics about fatal and non-fatal construction accidents, OSHA Rules and Regulations, Life/Safety Codes and discussions of many construction accident investigations.

Litigation relating to construction site accidents appear on the court dockets of every judicial district throughout the country. The number of lawsuits filed because of accidents has grown year after year. Until now there has been no single place for a person to obtain the information of what a forensic engineer / accident reconstruction expert witness does when reconstructing an accident. This book, now in its second edition, fills that void. It has been updated and expanded throughout by Jon Abele, Esq. It also allows attorneys to learn the basics of forensic engineering while providing guidance to accident reconstructionists on how to conduct an investigation into a construction worksite accident.

In Dram Shop Laws – Improving Public Safety, dram shop expert witness Maj. Mark Willingham of Alcohol Solutions, LLC, writes:

The phase dram shop is based on a unit of measure popular in Victorian times; approximately 1/8th of an ounce in our vernacular, and has become synonymous with a prohibition on the over-service of beverage alcohol to a patron or guest. The principal purpose of dram shop laws is to protect the public; and even the drinker himself, from the over-service or over-consumption of beverage alcohol and from the service of alcohol to persons under 21 years of age. This law calls upon beverage licensees and their employees to play a significant role in the enforcement of this important public policy. No other business type comes to mind where the holder of a government license; by acceptance of that license, is required to act as an agent of the state in taking affirmative action to monitor and intercede in the behavior of a citizen/business invitee.

Responsible retailing involves the development and implementation of effective alcohol service policies, practices, employee training and management systems. These elements are the keys to responsible retailing and the prevention of acts and situations leading to a dram shop lawsuit. Conversely, irresponsible beverage retailers do not employ these elements or they have developed ineffective policies, practices, training and management systems that fall below a reasonable standard of care.

Risk management expert witnesses may provide testimony regarding value at risk, risk management plans, and the risk management process. The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association, an independent association of professional risk managers from diverse industries in more than 150 countries uses the following definition in their Principles of Good Governance:

Governance – The framework of authority for an organization within which its institutional objectives are pursued and within which risk management operates.

Risk – Unknown future circumstances that alter the value or well‐being of an organization or system.

Livestock production expert witnesses may opine on growth hormones,livestock diseases, and related topics. Here, the EPA writes on Animal Feeding Operations (AFO):

AFOs are agricultural operations where animals are kept and raised in confined situations. AFOs generally congregate animals, feed, manure, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area. Feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals grazing or otherwise seeking feed in pastures. Animal waste and wastewater can enter water bodies from spills or breaks of waste storage structures (due to accidents or excessive rain), and non-agricultural application of manure to crop land.

Read more: epa.gov.

Aerosols expert witnesses may write reports and opine on aerosol sprays, airborne solid particles, and household chemicals. The National Aerosol Association writes: Let’s Set the Record Straight on Aerosols!

Q. What are aerosols, anyway?

A. Aerosols are very fine particles of liquid or solid substances suspended in air. Fog, for example, is a normal aerosol. In aerosol packaging, the substance to be sprayed is propelled through a valve as a fine mist or foam. This provides a safe, efficient means of dispensing thousands of consumer products such as shaving cream, hair spray, paint and antiperspirants.