Experts on Either Side May Mislead Jury
March 1, 2012 2 minutes read
Experts on Either Side May Mislead Jury
Ken Zafren, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM, EMS medical director for the state of Alaska and clinical associate professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford (CA) University Medical Center, says that while much attention has been paid to the problem of plaintiff experts making false statements about ED care, he's also experienced defense experts making false statements. "It's possible to be a hired gun for the defense, too," he says.
Zafren reviewed one case involving a missed diagnosis of an infected prosthetic joint, in which the patient presented to the ED with fever and hip pain.
The defense expert said this wasn't something an EP should be able to recognize because it's so rare, and, therefore, not within the purview of emergency medicine.
"I thought his testimony was disingenuous, because he said it couldn't happen," he says. "That, to me, is being pretty arrogant. There are many things I've read about in emergency medicine that I've never seen. I should still be able to recognize them, even if they are uncommon."
The plaintiff's orthopedic expert countered that, in fact, he regularly saw a few of these cases a month, year after year. In Zafren's own testimony, he told the jury that, in his opinion, the presentation of this case was such that a third-year medical student could have made the diagnosis, and that he had seen and diagnosed a similar case within the previous year.
Zafren occasionally reviews egregious cases in which the diagnosis should have been obvious and the patient was sent home from the ED. "I have testified in court against other emergency physicians," he says, adding that while he would prefer to review cases for the defense, it happens that much of his expert witness work is done for plaintiff attorneys.
"I have probably helped more cases not go forward by reviewing cases for plaintiff's attorneys than for defense attorneys," says Zafren. "Your own experts cannot get the case dismissed, but the plaintiff's experts can. If the expert reviewing the case says it looks like there is no case, that is usually the end of it."
Source
For more information, contact:
Ken Zafren, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM, Alaska Native Medical Center, Anchorage, AK. Phone: (907) 346-2333. Fax: (907) 346-4445. E-mail: [email protected].
Ken Zafren, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM, EMS medical director for the state of Alaska and clinical associate professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford (CA) University Medical Center, says that while much attention has been paid to the problem of plaintiff experts making false statements about ED care, he's also experienced defense experts making false statements.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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