Expert Witness Blog

In Truck/Tractor-trailer brakes and accident reconstruction,
equipment and machinery expert witness Robert R. Reed writes on ABS anti-lock brakes:

The importance of checking proper operation of the ABS system is that some fleets do not have in house maintenance that can diagnose and repair systems and over the road trucking companies tend to not take trucks/trailers out of service for repair for ABS light that stays on. Bulbs or fuses sometimes disappear from the dash warning light and system. Some veteran drivers remember the late 1970’s and don’t care for ABS because they think they have more skill in braking than ABS. This is not true as the new ABS systems have proven there reliability. Trucks/trailers with ABS problems will revert back to regular braking if any faults exist and the wheel or axle with a problem can skid. This can change or explain a stray skid mark that shows up at a scene. Other problems can develop with ABS with maintenance or lack thereof ABS wheel sensors, wiring, or exciter tone rings can be damaged and cause faults. Some fleets will avoid the costs as the truck still has regular brakes. Most normal stops by trucks/trailers do not involve ABS functions as ABS only releases the brake when skids/lock-up situations are detected but emergency/panic stops involving crash situations need the ABS functions to stop sooner or maneuver. If you encounter the unusual check for proper ABS functions.

In Truck/Tractor-trailer brakes and accident reconstruction,
equipment and machinery expert witness Robert R. Reed writes on ABS anti-lock brakes:

Compatibility is also an issue as older trucks pull newer trailers and newer trucks pull older trailers. This creates different issues for reconstruction. Load conditions, total weight, weather, environment, road and tire conditions, brake system maintenance, adjustment, capacity and capabilities must also be considered. These issues can produce conflicting data, cloud issues and render unfair judgments on the drivers/vehicles involved. Remember that since March 1999 trucks and buses with hydraulic brakes are ABS equipped and trucks with air brakes have ABS after March 1997 and air brake trailers have ABS after March 1, 1998. These are manufacture dates of the vehicles. Analyze all data carefully, identify systems properly to understand actions of the vehicles involved in the crash.

In Evidence – Handle With Care, fire expert witness and Principal of PyroCop Inc., Robert Rowe writes: Although the

Defendant had since inspected evidence removed from the fire scene, the Defendant was unable to inspect the scene it its original position and urged three possible sanctions applicable to this situation: dismissal, exclusion of Plaintiff’s experts, and an adverse jury instruction. The court granted the Defendant’s Spoliation Motion and the matter was dismissed with prejudice.

What can one do as a fire expert to prevent “spoliation” from occurring? The first priority of every fire expert is to conduct their investigation so as to minimize the loss or destruction of evidence and minimize allegations of spoliation. Prior to touching or moving anything, make sure the evidence is carefully photographed and documented. If the evidence must be moved, as is sometimes required to complete an investigation or to protect the evidence from further damage or theft, it is vital that the evidence is properly packaged, labeled and stored in a secure and controlled location.

Fire experts should always consult with their client regarding the handling of evidence discovered at a fire scene. Additional guidance regarding notification can be found in ASTM (American Standards for Testing and Materials) E 860.

In Evidence – Handle With Care, fire expert witness and Principal of PyroCop Inc., Robert Rowe writes that:

In a subrogation action filed by a prominent insurance company (plaintiff) for damages it paid to its insured’s as the result of a fire that occurred in the laundry room of the insured’s residence, Plaintiff claimed the fire was caused by an exhaust fan manufactured by Defendant.

The fire expert retained by the insurance company to conduct the initial investigation returned to the scene with a forensic electrical expert to analyze the electrical appliances, components, and wiring at the residence. Once the inspection was complete, the Plaintiff advised the home owner that they could begin repairs to the fire scene.

The Plaintiff then referred the insurance claim to its subrogation unit with the intent to pursue recovery against the Defendant and faxed the Defendant a letter a notifying the Defendent of the fire and Plaintiff’s belief that the Defendant’s fan was a cause of loss and offered the Defendant an opportunity to inspect the fire scene prior to repairs. By that point, however, repairs had already begun and the fire scene had not been preserved.

In Preventable Medical Errors, medical expert witness Perry Hookman, M.D., writes that cancer outpatient medication errors may be more common than previously thought. As an example Dentzer states that:

During congressional hearings in 2004 that unleashed a torrent of this type of coverage, a safety officer for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), David Graham, singled out five drugs on the market whose safety should be “seriously looked at. Some newspaper reports the next day featured graphic spreads on the “Five Most Dangerous Drugs” – the acne drug isotretinoin, the weight-loss drug sibutramine, the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor valdecoxib, the lipid-lowering drug rosuvastatin, and the asthma drug salmeterol. Four years later, all but one of these drugs (valdecoxib) are still on the market, although black-box warnings were strengthened or added for most and a new safety-oriented distribution system was created for isotretinoin.

Few news reports at the time noted that Graham’s list was just that – his own personal list of worrisome drugs, not the FDA’s or anyone else’s. Web sites such as Public Citizen’s WorstPills.org feature literally hundreds of concerns about dozens of drugs. But, we all know that almost no drug on the market is without risk.

In Preventable Medical Errors, medical expert witness Perry Hookman, M.D., writes that cancer outpatient medication errors may be more common than previously thought and asks “has the pendulum swung too far?”

The Implicit Message Communicated To The Public [i.e. Medical Malpractice Potential Jurors] Is That Many Drugs On The Market Are Neither Safe Nor Effective – And That Federal Drug-Safety Regulators Are Generally Incompetent.

Notwithstanding the above a decade’s worth of unprecedented drug recalls and other worrisome developments in drug safety or efficacy have appropriately pushed many journalists into aggressive coverage of pharmaceutical issues. The downside of the drumbeat of coverage, however, is the implicit message communicated to the public that many drugs on the market are neither safe nor effective – and that federal drug-safety regulators are generally incompetent,” reports Susan Dentzer [Dentzer S. “Communicating Health Care News-Pitfalls of Healthcare Journalism.” NEJM 2009,36[1]:1]