Why It Is Becoming More Difficult To Retain Experts In Medical Malpractice Cases

Earlier today I wrote about the Florida Board of Medicine’s decision to revoke the medical license of Dr. Richard Dellerson, a 74 year old emergency medicine physician. The purpose behind the Board’s was to scare other Doctor’s into silence.

After giving Dr. Dellerson’s case more thought, I asked myself whether the board would have suspend Dr. Dellerson’s license had he misrepresented his credentials while testifying on behalf of a defendant Doctor-I would say the obvious answer is not a chance.

Dr. Dellerson’s case is by no means the first time a licensing board has revoked a doctor’s license for testifying on behalf of a Plaintiff. That honor goes to Dr Gary Lustgarten, a prominent and well respected Florida Neurosurgeon, who lost one of his three medical licenses for “inappropriate” testimony on behalf of a patient’s family in a medical malpractice case. A case which the defendant doctor and hospital settled for $2.4 Million.

The North Carolina licensing board claimed Lustgarten’s testimony was “invented facts,” “totally unsubstantiated, inflammatory” and “could not possibly have been made in good faith.” Yet, the case settled for $2.4 Million. How invented and unsubstantiated could the facts have been? Again, had the facts been invented and unsubstantiated while testifying on behalf of a Defendant, the testimony would have been deemed “brilliant” and “novel”.

In yet another recent case, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld the right of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) of Rolling Meadows, Ill., to discipline one of its members over improper testimony.

I hope the Juror’s appreciate the risk doctor’s take when they stand-up on behalf of Plaintiff’s and criticize one of their own.