By: J. Usha Raj, MD, MHA Introduction Persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn (PPHN) occurs when after the baby is born the blood vessels in the lungs do not open up enough and not enough blood gets into the lungs to pick up enough oxygen for the baby. The baby remains blue and the amount… 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
Steven Babitsky, Esq. An expert who is retained by counsel as an expert witness has a Daubert or similar challenge filed against her. The Daubert motion is received by counsel. Does counsel have an obligation to notify the expert witness that the motion has been filed? There are many reasons that counsel needs to promptly… read more
One of the fastest growing opportunities for supplemental income for physicians will be in telemedicine. This will include tele-consulting and telephone opportunities. The U.S. Telemedicine Market is expected to cross USD 64 billion by 2025; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is one of the… read more
There has been a sharp increase in Independent Medical Evaluations for psychiatric claims. Some experts attribute the rise to workers’ compensation claimants filing for PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Genex, one of the country’s leading IME companies, has seen a 20% increase in IMEs for psychiatric conditions in workers’ compensation cases. The October 2, 2019 article… 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
