I e-mailed a link to this along with a note from me to both Howard Dean and Barbara Boxer.
PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Physician loses license over expert testimony
A lawyer worries increased scrutiny from medical boards may deter other doctors from being expert witnesses.
By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Aug. 19, 2002.
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A state medical board's decision to revoke a neurosurgeon's license over expert witness testimony has renewed concerns about what doctors say when they take the stand in that role.
The North Carolina Medical Board in July revoked the license of Gary Lustgarten, MD, a Florida neurosurgeon who testified for a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case in North Carolina. The board found that Dr. Lustgarten engaged in unprofessional conduct by misstating facts and the appropriate standard of care in North Carolina. Dr. Lustgarten said he did nothing wrong.
Some attorneys and doctors said the North Carolina board's action may signal a stepped up interest in expert witness testimony by medical boards. And a North Carolina attorney said the board's move may keep physicians from testifying.
"If I was a doctor and somebody called me up to be an expert witness, I'd say, 'I'm sorry. I'm busy,' " said Clifford Britt, a trial attorney in North Carolina who mostly handles medical malpractice cases. "I don't know why anyone would risk losing their license over a medical board disagreeing with his medical opinion."
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2002/08/19/prsc0819.ht... This is an interesting sentance: "The board found that Dr. Lustgarten engaged in unprofessional conduct by misstating facts and the appropriate standard of care in North Carolina."
Frist and all of the other Republicans who spoke for the law, spoke untruths about Terri's condition and level of care and slandered the husband by accusing him of being in it for the money.