We often receive frantic calls from attorneys who have hired an expert witness on their own, and discover that they, for any number of reasons, need to replace them – and fast! These calls typically happen when a case has progressed to the point where the expert opinion is now critical for the pursuit of the case, and the attorney has discovered an issue with the expert that will cause credibility problems or problems in qualifying the expert.
Our Comprehensive Case Evaluation service is a simple and cost effective approach to meet your State requirements in the preparation of an Affidavit of Merit and/or Certificate of Merit While the requirements of the Affidavit of Merit/Certificate of Merit vary from State
AnIndependent Medical Exams is required in disability and personal injury litigation. When a claimant lists a physical or mental condition as part of a claim, many insurance policies require an Independent Medical Exam to be performed. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 60,000 personal injuries occur each year due to truck accidents. Medical mistakes cause almost 100,000 deaths a year, and construction accidents cause 300,000 injuries.
A Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that tort and personal injury trials comprised almost 60 percent of 27,000 contract, tort, and real property trials nationwide in 2005.
Our experts can conduct an Independent Medical Exam for a legal dispute in areas including (but not limited to):
Pain Management
Orthopedics
Neurology
Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Neuropsychology
TMJ Specialists
Psychiatry
Vascular Surgery
Plastic Surgery
An Independent Medical Exam can assist an attorney in the preliminary assessment of a case or legal dispute. In a personal injury or workers’ compensation case, a physician will evaluate the claimant’s wounds to determine if there is a relationship between diagnosis and the injuries. The physician can also tell an attorney the extent of permanent impairment or disability after an examination. A claimant’s attorney may suggest a different course of action in a legal dispute or case based on the results.
An Independent Medical Exam provides unbiased facts and opinions in legal disputes. Due to the high number of personal injury and disability claims, physicians often have a heavy workload. It is not uncommon for a doctor to make a mistake, or have a potential conflict of interest. An Independent Medical Exam is not vulnerable to claimant manipulation or falsities.
Our Experts can provide services that include (but are not limited to):
Second opinions
Peer evaluations
Chart reviews
Legal testimony
Functional capacity evaluations
Fitness for duty exams
Permanent impairment rating
Certified Disability Evaluations
Saponaro, Inc. offers Independent Medical Exams for your personal injury, worker’s compensation, or product liability litigation. Our board-certified Physicians posses a broad range of credentials and certifications in their respective specialties. We offer the most dedicated and experienced team of professionals who can assist in your legal dispute.
Saponaro, Inc., has experts available to provide Certificate of Merit or Affidavit of Merit in all Medical specialties and sub-specialties including:
Physician’s Assistants Nurse and Nurse Practitioners Nursing Home personnel Chiropractic Podiatry Dental care
Saponaro, Inc. has been assisting medical malpractice attorneys throughout the United States with their Certificate of Merit and Affidavit of Merit requirements. We screen your case with the appropriately qualified physicians, matching certification for certification, and recommend the expert best suited to speak to the specific criteria of your case. The experts we refer are available to support their opinions through deposition and/or trial.
We provide the expert’s curriculum vitae, hourly rate, and retainer requirement at the time of the referral. We also provide replacement experts, for any reason, at no additional cost.
You work directly with the recommended expert, and pay the expert directly for their time involved in assisting on your case.
With over 40 years of experience let Saponaro, Inc., be the one call you make for all your Expert Witness Referrals.
Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice cases can be overwhelming, complicated, & time-consuming, often requiring the thorough review of several years of medical records.
Now, with the use of electronic medical records, the ability to clearly decipher a patients care is even more challenging.
An experienced Nursing professional can save you hours of time by outlining injuries and medical issues, summarizing medical history, and establishing possible relationships to the current injuries and/or outcome of a case.
At Saponaro Inc., our Nursing professionals have extensive experience reviewing, organizing, and summarizing voluminous medical records in a clear and concise fashion.
Clarify medical history prior to an injury in question.
Explain injuries related to an accident/malpractice.
Assist medical experts in analysis of the electronic medical records
Outline potential deviations and potential defendants.
Explain medical issues and terminology.
Recommend the type of Expert needed.
Conduct literature research.
Our highly qualified Nursing professionals will provide you with a straight-forward analysis of the medical records to help you pinpoint the pertinent issues of your case before you invest significant financial resources and non-billable hours on a case with a limited recovery value.
Events that should never occur in surgery (“never events”) happen at least 4,000 times a year in the U.S., according to research from Johns Hopkins University.
The finding published in Surgery, is the first of its kind to reveal the true extent of the prevalence of “never events” in hospitals through analysis of national malpractice claims.They observed that over 80,000 “never events” occurred between 1990 and 2010.
They estimate that at least 39 times a week a surgeon leaves foreign objects inside their patients, which includes surgical items such as towels or sponges. In addition, surgeons performing the wrong surgery or operating on the wrong body part occurs around 20 times a week.1
When a person enters a hospital or other medical facility, they do so expecting the highest standards of care, and to leave in better condition than they first entered. While no one enters a medical facility with the intent of being harmed, injuries still occur.
While it’s not possible to completely eliminate your risk for medical malpractice, you can take some steps to reduce your risks:
Research: Before scheduling a doctor’s appointment, take some time to do some research of your own. There are many websites out there that will tell you malpractice rates for any facility, as well as sites that provide records and reviews on individual doctors.
Observe for Cleanliness: When you arrive at the office or facility, look around. Is everything clean and sterile? Do you observe doctors and nurses washing their hands and following other proper medical procedures? According to MIT Technology Review, about 100,000 people have died due to hospital infections, some of which stemmed from doctors, nurses, and technicians not washing well enough.
Ask Questions: Is the doctor knowledgeable about your condition, and able to provide satisfactory answers? If you feel like your doctor doesn’t seem to know or care about your condition, find another doctor.
Most doctors carry medical malpractice insurance to protect themselves and the cost of their legal defense should a medical malpractice case come about. The plaintiff, on the other hand, will need to hire a personal injury lawyer. Lawyers on both sides will call medical experts to either confirm or deny that the doctor’s conduct and actions fell below the standard of care.
If you believe that you are a victim of medical malpractice, contact an attorney to find out whether or not you have a case.
Don’t trust your case to an unknown expert that you find on the internet, and end up being highly disappointed with the work product, knowledge, and/or credibility of the expert you have decided to rely on for the most important aspect of your case.
Saponaro, Inc. is chosen everyday by successful trial lawyers because of our strong selection of premier experts in all areas of litigation, years of experience, and our commitment to your success.
Why should you choose Saponaro Inc.?
We willperform a detailed screening of your case to make sure that the expert we recommend is the best possible match to the specifics of your case.
In a recent study of more than 800 clinically coded obstetrical medical malpractice cases analyzed, 77% cited errors in clinical judgment. The report identifies that the next most prevalent areas of causation were miscommunication, technical errors, inadequate documentation, administrative failures and ineffective supervision.
Choosing the right expert witness can make or break your case. Even if your case isn’t going to trial, a credible expert witness can be the key to settling in your client’s favor. Your brilliant theory about how an accident happened holds no water if you can’t back it up with the support of an accident reconstruction expert. Your client’s claim regarding injuries suffered have little validity without confirmation from a medical expert witness.
