How to Be an Effective and Ethical Expert Witness

Lots of physicians have side hustles. One type of side work unique suited to physicians is becoming an expert witness. Imagine being paid to weigh in with a professional opinion in court, and even save another physician some heartburn and money by offering a second opinion of sorts that can get them out of a legal jam.

Physicians often ask me if it’s wrong to testify against other physicians, and they are often surprised at the unexpected benefits of being an expert. In this post, I’ll tell you how you can do good and give back to the profession, even while doing work some consider “bad.”

Taking an Unbiased, Neutral Approach

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As a radiology expert witness retained in over 150 cases, I have reviewed cases for both plaintiff and defense attorneys and I apply my knowledge, training, and experience objectively regardless of which side retains me. So when people ask me how I can testify against other doctors, my answer is that I’m not testifying against physicians.

My focus is on the evidence and how decisions physicians made were reasonable based on what someone with similar skills and training would do under similar circumstances. This is one way to think about the “standard of care” without getting into legalese.

These policies and limitations do nothing to stop medical malpractice cases. Keeping good physicians from serving as experts only hurts your chances of finding a high-quality expert to review your potential malpractice case, but it does not prevent claims from being filed.

Why Working With the Plaintiff Can Be Frowned Upon

Preventing physicians from being retained by plaintiff attorneys will make it more difficult for attorneys to find reputable experts to do quality reviews of cases. Some cases may not proceed against a physician if an expert retained by a plaintiff’s attorney finds there was no deviation from the standard of care.

How the Defendant Can Benefit from Your Role With the Plaintiff

But many physicians will never know their expert colleague’s review actually saved them from a malpractice case because there’s no way to know it didn’t (almost) happen.

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