An expert witness for the plaintiff takes the stand and proceeds to tell the jury patently false statements regarding the standard of care. While this problem is certainly not unique to emergency medicine, it is exacerbated by the number of experts allowed by judges to testify based on limited exposure to emergency medicine, who are not themselves emergency physicians, says Hugh F. Hill III, MD, JD, FACEP, an assistant professor in the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.
The fact that an expert witness recently prevailed after suing a specialty society for suspending him for allegedly giving improper testimony in a medical negligence case wont affect the ability of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) to discipline unethical expert witnesses, according to Louise B. Andrew, MD, litigation stress counselor, founder and principal of www.MDMentor.com, and former chair of ACEPs Professional Liability Task Force Expert Witness subcommittee.
A plaintiffs attorney in a missed myocardial infarction case showed the jury an EMR entry indicating the patients heart rate was within normal limits, as well as vital signs taken by a nurses assistant showing severe tachycardia.
The first part of this series dealt with guidelines for the care of ischemic stroke. This issue applies the same principles of evidence-based medicine to hemorrhagic stroke and traumatic brain injury. Hemorrhagic stroke is less common than ischemic stroke, but can be more devastating.