The U.S. District Court N.D. Illinois dealt with a request by counsel for a protective order requiring that the expert’s deposition be conducted remotely due to the COVID pandemic. The court granted the protective order, rejecting the request for an in-person deposition. The court stated: The general concern over the risks posed by COVID-19 are… read more

How many expert witnesses does it take to present a serious medical malpractice claim? A Chicago Cook County jury awarded the record-breaking verdict for the family of 5 year old, Gerald, who suffers from severe brain damage. The mother, who was diagnosed with preeclampsia, had to wait several hours before she was placed on a… read more

The US District Court N.N. Oklahoma in Teel v. United States of America dealt with a medical malpractice case arising out of treatment at the Claremore Indian Hospital (CIH). The plaintiff alleged failure to diagnose and properly treat his prostate cancer. The defendant filed a Daubert challenge against plaintiff’s expert Milsten alleging: …defendant challenges Dr…. read more

The US District Court, D. New Mexico dealt with the plaintiff, Maes, who was injured in an auto accident. When the insurer attempted to set-up an IME the plaintiff objected to the IME arguing it was not necessary and if ordered, the court should place restrictions on the IME. The court dealt with the 8… read more

Can IME physicians be sued for injuring a plaintiff during an IME?  The answer in some cases is YES. The Washington Court in Reagan v. Newton 436 P.3d 411 (2019) dealt with the following allegation: In May 2014, Dr. Newton, an orthopedic physician, and Dr. Dennis Chong, a physiatrist, performed Reagan’s IME. Reagan’s sister-in-law, Lisa… read more

There are many reasons why expert witnesses are increasingly being excluded from testifying. Attorney Joshua E. Garner, special counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice writing for SEAK, Inc. explains with the following article: HOW AND WHY EXPERT WITNESSES GET EXCLUDED Joshua E. Gardner EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In federal court, experts tend to get excluded for… read more

Can opposing counsel require an expert witness to produce his 1099s as part of a discovery request? In Estate of Jackson v. Billingslea, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ordered an accident reconstruction expert to produce 1099’s for himself and his business. Jackson involved deaths resulting from a speed police… read more

Root cause analysis is frequently employed by litigants and expert witnesses to help them determine the root causes of accidents, IT failures, medical malpractice, etc. An excellent article “The Purpose, Process, and Protection of a Post-Accident Root Cause Analysis” appeared in the July 2019 issue of In the Defense. The authors, as the title suggests,… read more

How important is scientific literature in a Daubert challenge? In Wendt v. Bowerman, No. 343612 (Mich. Ct. App. June 11, 2019), the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision to exclude the testimony of an expert whose opinions were unsupported by scientific literature, a decision which led to summary judgment in favor of… read more

The U.S. District Court in Massachusetts in the case of Carrozza v. CVS Pharmacy Inc. (July 8, 2019) dealt with a lawsuit against a pharmacy by a plaintiff who suffered an allergic reaction to Levaquin, an antibiotic he was prescribed. The pharmacy dispensed the drug despite a “hardstop” warning in their system indicating that the… read more