Statutes & Stethoscopes: Sidebar - Close Enough to Count.

A high fall risk nursing home resident gets up alone because the bed alarm is off. She breaks her hip, has surgery, develops pneumonia and dies eleven days later. Did the nursing home cause her death? The factual chain is only half the question the law asks.

In this Sidebar I explain the difference between cause in fact and proximate cause, Pennsylvania's substantial factor test, and why foreseeability sits at the heart of it. We revisit Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad, Judge Cardozo's majority and Judge Andrews' famous dissent, walk through the broken arm, dropped stretcher and poorly set fracture example, and cover superseding causes, the eggshell rule and increased risk of harm.

Proximate cause is ultimately a question for the jury. The expert's job is to lay out every link in the chain clearly and honestly, including the weak ones.

This is educational information, not legal advice. Proximate cause rules vary by state, and the attorney on the case can explain how they work in their jurisdiction.

For clinicians who want to do medical-legal work properly, start with the Expert Report Starter Kit: https://nationalexpertacademy.com

Med Legal Pro matches, screens and trains the medical experts attorneys rely on in medical malpractice, personal injury, nursing home and wrongful death litigation: https://medlegalpro.com

Have a topic you want covered? Suggest it here: https://medlegalpro.com/podcast-topics/

Want to be a guest on the show? Apply here: https://medlegalpro.com/podcast-guest/

Hosted by Tracy Liberatore, Esq. (PA, Emeritus).

Access Conflict Pro here

Produced by APodcastGeek
https://apodcastgeek.com/

Statutes & Stethoscopes: Sidebar - It Doesn't Happen Overnight (Building Your Expert Practice, Part 1)

We're starting a new series on the business side of being a medical expert. Part 1 is about the conversation that comes up more than any other: "I signed on a few weeks ago and I haven't had a case yet."

We cover why this is a practice you build and not a job you start, how attorneys find experts on their own clock (and courts move slower than that), why no honest firm can promise you a number of cases or a timeline, what a good firm can do to shorten the road, and why your own responsiveness and the quality of your work are a big part of how busy you become. Plus a realistic way to think about your first year.

This is educational information, not legal, financial, or business advice. Every expert's experience is different. There's no promise or guarantee of any number of cases, any income, or any timeline, and the time and effort you put in helps determine how busy you become.

For clinicians who want to do medical-legal work properly, start with the Expert Report Starter Kit: https://nationalexpertacademy.com

Med Legal Pro matches, screens and trains the medical experts attorneys rely on in medical malpractice, personal injury, nursing home and wrongful death litigation: https://medlegalpro.com

Have a topic you want covered? Suggest it here: https://medlegalpro.com/podcast-topics/

Want to be a guest on the show? Apply here: https://medlegalpro.com/podcast-guest/

Hosted by Tracy Liberatore, Esq. (PA, Emeritus).

Access Conflict Pro here

Produced by APodcastGeek
https://apodcastgeek.com/

Statutes & Stethoscopes: Sidebar - No Damages, No Case.

A blood pressure medication charted two and a half hours late, with no documented reason. The family calls an attorney. It may even be a breach of the standard of care, but in most courtrooms it is not a case, because nothing happened to the patient as a result.

In this Sidebar I walk through all four elements of a negligence claim, with extra time on the two that new experts underestimate: causation and damages. We cover but-for causation and the substantial factor test, a nursing home pressure injury where the resident's own illness complicates the picture, and loss of chance in delayed cancer diagnosis cases.

For every review, give causation and damages the same attention you give breach. Ask what would have happened with proper care, and whether you can explain the connection in plain language. If you can't, the attorney needs to hear it.

This is educational information, not legal advice. Causation standards and damages rules vary by state; the attorney on the case decides which ones apply.

For clinicians who want to do medical-legal work properly, start with the Expert Report Starter Kit: https://nationalexpertacademy.com

Med Legal Pro matches, screens and trains the medical experts attorneys rely on in medical malpractice, personal injury, nursing home and wrongful death litigation: https://medlegalpro.com

Have a topic you want covered? Suggest it here: https://medlegalpro.com/podcast-topics/

Want to be a guest on the show? Apply here: https://medlegalpro.com/podcast-guest/

Hosted by Tracy Liberatore, Esq. (PA, Emeritus).

Access Conflict Pro here

Produced by APodcastGeek
https://apodcastgeek.com/