PROFESSIONGroup aims to weed out deficient medical expert witnessesThe organization offers a list of values it says indicate an expert is testifying truthfully and accurately.By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. Aug. 18, 2003. A newly formed group wants physicians who are angry about bad medical expert witness testimony to take their gripes out of the doctor's lounge to people who can do something about it. Two physicians fed up with medical expert witness testimony gathered lawyers and doctors and founded the Coalition and Center for Ethical Medical Testimony this summer. About 100 physicians have signed up so far.
Their goal is to expose physicians who falsify credentials or mislead juries about standards of care, and they're planning to arm physicians with the tools necessary to do the job. "Most doctors don't have a clue about what you do if someone is out there lying," said Louise Andrew, MD, an emergency physician and lawyer who co-founded CCEMT. The group plans to teach doctors how to check out expert witness credentials to make sure they aren't overstated and how to track down testimony the physician may have given elsewhere. CCEMT also plans to alert physicians to the role that state medical societies, licensing boards and specialty societies can play in disciplining physicians who give bad expert testimony. "The key thing we can provide is networking and sharing of the actual expert testimony so they can apply it to their own cases," Dr. Andrew said. The group's motto is "Nothing but the truth." And they say the standard needs to apply to experts for both plaintiffs and defendants. CCEMT says an expert witness is likely being truthful when he or she:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Featured stories     
« Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
Next »
Current topicsMost-viewed
This weekUnspent war funds eyed to avoid years of Medicare doctor pay cuts Rite Aid clinics place new twist on "doc-in-a-box" Get our email alertsUse our one-step registration. Learn more Your information will not be shared. Privacy policyColumns and series
From the vaultQuotable"Our goal really is to provide the right care for patients at the right time. Not too much and not too little." Steven Weinberger, MD, co-author of a list developed by the American College of Physicians of 37 clinical situations in which screenings and medical tests provide little or no benefit |
|||||||||
SHARE
