Consulting is a service of providing information based on education, training , and experience. I have a medical and law degree but have practiced mostly diagnostic radiology. I have experience in many types of litigation and a braod knowlege of the practice of medicine.
Consulting is neither the practice of medicine or law, but is a conduit to the understanding of the complex interplay between the two "arcane" professions. I am well equipped to talk turkey and help you understand how law and medicine can help your situation, if at all.
I am able to assist you or your attorney in understanding any medical implications of any legal case.
If appropriate, I can refer you to a physician and/or attoreny that might help. I can offer second opinions, especially regarding imaging study interpretations.
It is important for a consultant to acknowledge ignorance. That is "Know what you don't know." Sometimes knowledge is incomplete, and research will fill in the gaps. Other times, it is best to not take on a project "over your head."
Here are a few things I do know:
1. Contract language is often subject to interpretation. This is because every word in a sentence is imputed to have a specific meaning. In legal statute, the meaning is interpreted by Courts as "most likely", ""historical" or "intended" meaning. Contracts issued by a controlling party (i.e., employer, insurer) are interpreted in favor of the non-controlling party when there is ambiguity. Many words have more than one meaning. "Cannot" may mean either "unable to" or "unwilling to", a big difference.
2. Professions such as law and medicine use specialty language and organizations in part to define their profession, but also to prevent the intrusion of laypersons and to protect their own interest.
3. The law is not about justice or "right v. wrong", but about winning. Law is adversarial. When David challenges Goliath, guess who is disadvantaged.
4. Judges and juries are human. Despite instructions to adhere to a code of law which is supposedly objective, there are inevitably human factors such as emotions that influence decisions.
5. Legal ethics teaches lawyers about fee collection; not so for medical ethics where the patient is the primary concern with or without payment.
6. The "standard of care" or "standard of practice" is determined by members of the profession.
7. Emotional damages and "pain and suffering" are difficult to prove.
8. Written documents are superior to verbal conversations as proof.
9. Everything is political. Politics involves power and money.
10. The patient and client should make all final decisions based on information that they trust.
11. The internet is full of garbage.
12. AI is only as good as the input and algorithms used to construct it. Garbage in Garbage out.
13. Anyone can sue anyone about anything.
14. There are technical factors considered by both lawyers and doctors, that may have no relationship to quality.
15. The wheels of justice turn very slow.
16. Law involves the art of Rhetoric and medicine involves the art of Sympathy.
