Expert Witness Blog

In Medical Malpractice Overview, medical expert witness Eugene DeBlasio writes on breaches of doctor-patient confidentiality:

Doctor-patient confidentiality is based upon the general principle that a person seeking medical help or advice should not be hindered or inhibited by fear that his or her medical concerns or conditions will be disclosed to others. There is generally an expectation that the physician will hold that special knowledge in confidence and use it exclusively for the benefit of the patient.

The professional duty of confidentiality covers not only what a patient may reveal to the doctor, but also what a doctor may independently conclude or form an opinion about, based on his or her examination or ASSESSMENT of the patient. Confidentiality covers all medical records (including x-rays, lab-reports, etc.) as well as communications between patient and doctor and generally includes communications between the patient and other professional staff working with the doctor.

In MACHINE TOOL GUARD RISK ASSESSMENT, equipment and machinery expert witness

Kenneth Knott, Ph.D., P.E., Product Liability Dynamics, Inc., writes:

Citing official statistics for 1997, a paper by Windau 1 showed that 45% of the 189 industrial fatalities due to workers being caught in machinery in 1997 were in the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, 65% of the total fatalities occurred when workers were either operating or performing general unspecified maintenance on a machine. The paper by Windau referred to above did not address the amputations, other severe injuries, or “near misses” associated with the failure or absence of effective guards.

Bad faith expert witnesses at Insurance Expert Network define Bad Faith Claim:

A term describing blatantly unfair conduct that exceeds mere negligence by an insurance company. For example, a bad faith claim may arise if an auto liability insurer arbitrarily refuses to settle a claim within policy limits, where an insured’s liability is incontrovertible. Bad faith damages, also known as extracontractual damages, are often substantial. They frequently exceed the limits of the insurance policy that is the subject of the claim.

In Medical Malpractice Overview, medical expert witness Eugene DeBlasio writes on unauthorized treatment or lack of informed consent:

Virtually all states have recognized, either by express STATUTE or COMMON LAW, the right to receive information about one’s medical condition, the treatment choices, risks associated with the treatments, and prognosis. The information must be in plain language terms that can readily be understood and in sufficient amounts such that a patient is able to make an “informed” decision about his or her health care. If the patient has received this information, any consent to treatment that is given will be presumed to be an “informed consent.” A doctor who fails to obtain INFORMED CONSENT for non-emergency treatment may be charged with a civil and/or criminal offense such as a “battery” or an unauthorized touching of the plaintiff’s person.

In order to prevail on a charge that a doctor performed a treatment or procedure without “informed consent,” the patient must usually show that, had the patient known of the risk or outcome allegedly not disclosed, the patient would not have opted for the treatment or procedure and thus avoided the risk. In other words, the patient must show a harmful consequence to the unauthorized treatment.

Literature reports several tools that have been developed in hospitals to improve handoff communication. One such tool used when patients are being transported to radiology or other departments within the hospital is called a “round trip ticket”, a one page, patient-information sheet that provides basic patient information. Simple questions are answered by checking off boxes….

The DATAS tool was described for handoff communication between nurses such as shift changes.

D – Demographic and diet A – Assessments and allergies (to include new medications)

Adrienne Carlson of ForensicScienceSchools.org writes on The Life Of A Forensic Science Expert:

When your designation is tagged with the word “expert,” you can bet your last dollar that people expect you to be pretty smart and never make a mistake. And when you’re a forensic scientist, errors are the noose that could snuff out your career – you’re expected to be accurate and precise so that crimes can be solved and criminals put away for good. The life of a forensic science expert is one that has come through the college route – undergraduate, graduate, and even doctoral studies are a must when you expect to reach expert level. Besides this, you also have to gain a ton of experience by working with seniors in the field and assisting their research work.

As a forensic scientist, you are going to be responsible for analyzing evidence collected at crime scenes and providing expert testimony related to the evidence during trials. While some forensic scientists do go out in the field to collect evidence, this is a job that is usually done by forensic technicians or crime scene investigative technicians. Forensic scientists work closely with police and other law enforcement and investigative agencies in order to determine how and why a criminal act was perpetrated and to find the guilty person.