Expert Witness Rule: Hearsay Is a Credibility Killer

Expert Witness Rule:

Don’t rely on hearsay alone.

… No matter the source.

It is a credibility killer.

𝘼𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮: "𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨"

𝙈𝙚: "𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥"

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:
↳Some patients have 𝗯𝗮𝗱 medical experiences
↳Some patients have 𝗮𝘄𝗳𝘂𝗹 medical experiences

But this does 𝙉𝙊𝙏 automatically mean that they suffered from medical malpractice

When reviewing cases for merit, I look at:

• The medical record
• The imaging studies
• The consultant reports
• The EMS transport logs

Then, I state whether breach or compliance occurred

Often, a negative opinion results in some pushback:

• "Doc, my client's sworn affidavit states"
• "Doc, my client promises XYZ happened"
• "Doc, my client's spouse remembers it differently"

But I cannot blindly act on hearsay alone
↳𝘚𝘰, 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆:
A comprehensive coverup and obfuscation by the hospital is possible (𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲)
↳𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺

𝗣.𝗦. - Have you ever reviewed a case and found nothing meritorious ... 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵'𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵?