How To Factor in Prior Expert Opinions You Don’t Have Your Own

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙: 𝙉𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚

What I heard: This is a 𝙒𝙀𝘼𝙆 plaintiff case


Here's the truth:

Not all cases are meritorious

But that isn't known until the case is reviewed

𝘽𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮


Here's the truth:

Many bad outcomes are simply that

But patients and their families don't know that

𝙐𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣


Several months back, I was asked to review a case

• California
• C-Section
• Bad outcome
• Lots of publicity
• A young mother

𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 "𝙣𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩"


After reviewing the records, I was astounded to find:

• There was indeed a bad outcome
• The litigation was moving full speed ahead
• The official complaint was extremely boisterous
• There were 𝙉𝙊 breaches in the standard of care
• They had already deposed several fact witnesses


What was missing ❓

An expert to support the plaintiff's claim of malpractice


As I suspected

I was 𝙉𝙊𝙏 the first expert retained

More than likely I was the 3rd or 4th

Since each expert retained failed to find merit

𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙉𝙊 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨 𝙉𝙊 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩


The case teaches a lesson:

If several experts opine that there is a lack of merit

There's no reason to think the next will be any different

𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙠 𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣



𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙜𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙?