By; Ray Rollings Over fifty years ago, the distinguished Harvard professor and engineering consultant Karl Terzaghi published a classic paper entitled Consultants, Clients, and Contractors. This paper explored the dynamic and often destructive interactions between these parties in major engineering works.  Today, we often see the same destructive conflicts between the parties of which Professor… read more

Epidural steroid injections, both translaminar and transforaminal, are a common therapeutic provided by many pain management practitioners.  While this procedure is generally considered safe, there have been reported cases of neurological injuries including spinal cord injury, respiratory arrest, spinal cord infarction, paralysis, and death. The Doctors Company, the nation’s largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer, reports… read more

Software innovation is growing at an incredible rate in the United States. This means that for many software companies and innovators, so are software patents and software patent litigation. As software programming evolves, the law and legal precedences also change, and the various courts and agencies that apply and interpret them must adapt to a… read more

Assessing Risk Assessing risk is an important issue in both clinical and forensic psychiatry.  Whether a clinician is capable of predicting suicide, dangerousness or relapse is a controversial topic as well.  It is clear that the future cannot be predicted accurately all the time by even the best clinician.  However sometimes, there are logical means… read more

Introduction Over the years, psychiatry has generally not been considered a high-risk medical specialty, at least in regard to the risk of being sued based on a cause of action for medical negligence.  The authors in a NEJM article titled Malpractice Risk According to Physician Specialty (8/18/2011) found that only 2.6% of psychiatrists faced a… read more

Introduction In evaluating catastrophic burn victims it is important to objectively assess the extent of scarring, outline a treatment protocol, and predict future disfigurement to determine a prognosis and long-term expenses and medical costs. Incidence of Burn Injuries The American Burn Association reports 450,000 burn related hospital admissions and emergency department visits annually. [1] Minor… read more

Introduction Cataracts are the most common cause of visual loss and blindness in the world.  According to the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery approximately 3 million Americans undergo cataract surgery each year. Most of these surgeries are performed without complications. Some patients do suffer significant complications. Definitions A cataract is a clouding of… read more

In dog bite cases it is essential to objectively assess the extent of scarring, outline a treatment protocol and predict future disfigurement in dog bite victims. These parameters are necessary in determining long term expenses and medical costs. Incidence of Dog Bite Injuries Approximately 77.5 million dogs are owned as pets in the United States…. read more

Federal District Judge David Lawson (E.D. Michigan) dealt with a patent infringement case. The defendant’s expert filed a 64 page report on the issue of invalidity claiming that the 646 patents were obvious. Plaintiff’s counsel moved to strike the expert’s report based on the fact that counsel for the defendant drafted the entire report. At… read more

Medical School for Lawyers: How To Conduct a Neurological Examination   Personal injury trial and other attorneys, who deal with medical legal issues, increasingly find that they need a solid understanding of the neurological system. In this program, Dr. Susan Pearson, a board certified neurologist will demonstrate and explain the complete neurological examination. Understanding clinical… read more