Surgery: Cardiovascular Surgery Expert Witnesses

Vikas Aggarwal, MD, MPH, is a Board-certified Interventional and General Cardiologist with additional specialization in Vascular Disease and Pulmonary Embolism. He has vast tertiary care experience in the medical management of cardiovascular conditions as well as interventional techniques such as coronary and peripheral vascular interventions, pulmonary vascular intervention, mechanical circulatory support, and structural heart interventions.

Dr. Aggarwal holds certifications in Peripheral Vascular Ultrasound Interpretation (ARDMS) and Adult Comprehensive Echocardiography. He has extensive academic and teaching experience in the areas of interventional cardiology, cardiology, and vascular disease. He is a frequent invited lecturer and presenter at noted universities and cardiovascular institutions around the world.

Research:

• Novel percutaneous therapies for acute pulmonary embolism and chronic thrombo- embolic pulmonary hypertension including catheter based thrombus removal and Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty
• Clinical research involving intravascular imaging and contrast sparing coronary intervention
• Novel percutaneous device therapies for patients with cardiogenic shock

Litigation Support: Dr. Aggarwal has extensive experience as an expert medical witness having completed more than 50 case reviews and depositions over the past 3 years. His cardiology and vascular disease services are available to attorneys for both plaintiff and defense, and include medical review, thorough reports, deposition, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise: 

Cardiovascular Disease Interventinal Cardiology Vascular Medicine Coronary Peripheral Arterial Disease  Vein Thrombosis Pulmonary Embolism

Stents Cardiac Catheterization Bleeding Anticoagulants Antiplatelets Circulation Arteries

C. Michael Wright, MD, FACC, DABCL, FNLA, is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, and Clinical Lipidology. With 30 years of experience, his main interest and focus is in preventing cardiovascular disease through a combination of lifestyle interventions, sophisticated risk assessment and, when appropriate, judicious use of medications. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Wright has been providing medical expert witness consultative services to attorneys representing both plaintiff and defendant for over five years. His services include medical record review, written reports, depositions, and trial testimony. Dr. Wright's cases include issues of: Cardiovascular Disease - Internal Medicine - Clinical Lipidology - Preventive Cardiology

Background - Dr. Wright is currently a Cardiologist in private practice at Scripps Memorial Hospital, Scripps Center for Executive Health, and a Staff physician at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. Dr. Wright completed his cardiovascular fellowship at UCSD. 

From 1999 to 2007, Dr. Wright founded and served as CEO of the LifeScore Clinic. During this time, he performed over 15,000 comprehensive assessments on clients from all over the world. Dr. Wright combined sophisticated body imaging with extensive lab work, often including genetic testing and advanced biomarker testing. His published research, 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals, is the most comprehensive CT database. It demonstrates that standard chest CTs can be used to accurately predict cardiovascular mortality by quantifying the calcium in the coronary arteries. 

Dr. Wright is a voluntary Clinical Professor at UCSD, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, where he mentors post doctoral students and assists with research papers on data collected at LifeScore Clinic. He is also on the LipoScience Advisory Panel and Speaker Panel where he counsels on the various density lipoprotein (LDL) particles in the blood and provides physicians and their patients with information to personalize management of risk for heart disease.

Robert M. Stark, MD, has 40 years of experience practicing Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Preventive Medicine. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, he is in full-time practice in cardiology and internal medicine. Dr. Stark is past-president of the Connecticut Society of Internal Medicine. He serves as Adjunct Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College. and Director of his hospital’s Cardiovascular Prevention Program.  Dr. Stark teaches residents and medical students as Adjunct Clinical Professor of Medicine. He also speaks frequently on cardiovascular topics for lay and professional groups as well as the media. Education: B.S.  University of Michigan  (Phi Beta Kappa) M.D.  Harvard Medical School  (Honors) Medical Residency  U. of Pennsylvania Hospital Cardiology Fellowship  National Institutes of Health  (N.I.H.)

Litigation Support: Dr. Stark has 20 years of litigation experience in state and federal jurisdictions. He has served as a senior member of his state’s Medical Malpractice Claims Review Panel, where he helped determine the defensibility of cases on behalf of malpractice insurers and individual law firms. He also had responsibility for advising on defensibility of cases for Aetna Life & Casualty and CNA Insurance, as well as for individual law firms.

Dr. has given deposition and trial testimony in over 125 cases. He specializes in reviewing and explaining medical treatments and potential complications of cardiac conditions, and in evaluating medical treatments for standard of care. Dr. Stark provides summaries and reports that are cogent and complete. He firmly believes that the ability to communicate effectively is as essential to medicolegal work as it is to quality patient care.

 Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine Expertise:

Preventive Medicine Heart Attack Myocardial Infarction Angina Stroke Syncope

Cardiac Arrest Sudden Death Stress Test Echocardiogram Congestive Heart Failure Aortic Dissection

Atrial Fibrillation Arrhythmia Pulmonary Embolus Anticoagulation Coumadin Valvular Disease

View Dr. Stark's Consulting Profile.

MRK Medical Consultants provides Medical-Legal Evaluations to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client's situations. MRK provides a wide array of medical experts that offer objective review and analysis of personal injuries. Each stage of the process—research to review, analysis to opinion—is addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client’s situations. MRK has over forty board certified physician specialists and many with subspecialty certifications. MRK provides physician experts to the entire State of California, the Reno/Lake Tahoe area and Las Vegas, and we travel to many areas of the United States. Physical therapy, registered nurses, physician assistant and billing review consultants are available services MRK provides. Oncall MD's in office daily to discuss your needs if you are unsure of what expert you need.

Edward W. Younger, III, M.D., Medical Director of MRK Medical Consultants, specializes in Orthopedic Surgery. He has extensive experience in total joint replacement, as well as reconstructive surgery of the knee, hip and shoulder. He was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to his hospital. He has served on the orthopedic trauma staff at Mercy San Juan Medical Center and serves on the Medical Executive Committee at Mercy San Juan. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Society and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the California Orthopedic Association.


Dr. Michael R. Klein, Jr., M.D., specializes in Orthopedic Surgery and is a founding member and the first Medical Director of Northern California Orthopedic Centers. He is a senior member of the medical staff at Mercy San Juan Medical Center and was involved with the development of the orthopedic section of the Level II Trauma Center.

Dr. Klein is a clinical instructor at University of California, Davis, Medical Center, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and a member of the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association.

MRK's Areas of Expertise:

Orthopedics Neurosurgery / Neurology Rheumatology General surgery / trauma Emergency Medicine Internal Medicine Cardiology Geriatrics Sports Medicine RN Physical Therapy Chiropractic Orthopedics

Neuropsychology Podiatry Vascular Surgery Family Practice Anesthesiology Ophthalmology Optometry Urology Gastroenterology Infectious Disease Pulmonary Medicine Critical care Otolaryngology

Dr. Thomas J. Berger, was board certified in 1981 as a cardiac surgeon by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and has been involved, as an expert, in over 300 medical malpractice cases. Most of this experience has been since 1998, when his firm, Heart of the Matter Expertise, began to gain recognition, within the legal community, as the premier expert witness service for cases involving cardiac surgery and cardio-thoracic disease.

Areas of Expertise:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Cardiology
• Surgery - General
• Thoracic Surgery

Mission Statement

To see that the truth about every case, in which an associate of Heart of the Matter Expertise becomes involved, is uncovered and understood, whether this means assuring justice for a poorly treated patient or protecting the precious reputation of an unfairly accused physician.

Robert A. Ertner, MD, is a Board Certified, fellowship-trained Cardiac Anesthesiologist in full-time clinical practice at a Northern California county hospital that serves as a level 2 trauma center. Dr. Ertner has been a certified Echocardiographer for 15 years. He specializes in Cardiac and Thoracic surgical procedures for which he is fellowship-trained. Background: Dr. Ertner has previously served as an academic physician teaching residents in both MD and CRNA programs, engaged in locum tenens work supervising CRNAs, and presently provides care to over 700 patients each year. His group is involved in providing Spinal, Epidural, Regional, and General Anesthesia for patients undergoing cardiovascular and thoracic procedures as well as  general, orthopedic, bariatric, urologic, vascular, otorhinolaryngological (ENT), ophthalmologic, and neurologic surgery.  He provides care for patients in the settings of obstetrical and gynecological procedures. Dr. Ertner maintains licenses in California where his practice is located, as well as in Texas and Georgia, where he trained, and in Missouri. He was awarded Diplomat status by the National Board of Echocardiography and presently a testamur.

 Litigation Support: Dr. Ertner has been involved in medical-legal work since 2014. He has reviewed cases for attorneys representing both plaintiff and defense. Dr. Ertner has consulted on over 35 cases, written numerous case opinions, been deposed, and testified multiple times. He works with clients to offer both an understanding of the relevant medicine (anatomy, pathophysiology, pharmacology, etc.) and how to think about what information they need to seek going forward as they pursue their cases.

Areas of Expertise:

Anesthesiology Cardiac Anesthesiology Thoracic Anesthesiology Peripheral Nerve Block Epidural Spinal Airway Management

Airway Trauma Intubation Transesophageal Echocardiography Nerve Injury Bronchospasm Laryngospasm Intraoperative Cardiac Arrest

Elite Medical Experts works with attorneys to provide 100% Board-Certified physicians and surgeons practicing at the professorial level at the nation's leading universities. From Stanford to Yale, and from every medical and surgical specialty, Elite secures full-time practicing high-level experts from the nation’s most respected medical institutions. Each specialist is truly unique – a Board Certified professor with a dedicated clinical practice, extensive publications, and top-tier credentials from a major U.S. medical center. When an Elite expert aligns with your case, you have a powerful voice – ready to testify – on your side.

Why choose Elite?

• Immediate access to top-tier university physicians and surgeons.
• Cost-effective case analysis on a flat-fee basis.
• Panels of expert witnesses for complex cases.
• Independent Medical Examinations (IME) within a favorable radius of any location Our physician-led team will hand-select a top-tier, full-time practicing professor from a major U.S. university who will independently analyze your case. If the facts support your theory, your case will move forward with a leading expert witness who remains committed throughout all phases of litigation. Elite Medical Experts works directly with legal teams and does not accept inquiries from private parties. If you are not a legal professional, please ask your attorney to contact us on your behalf. Please call (877) 670-8625 to speak directly with a Board-Certified physician or nurse on our staff. There is no charge for the initial phone consultation and we will outline a strategic plan for moving forward. We welcome the opportunity to work with you on your next case. Dr. Burton Bentley II, M.D., FAAEM
  President, Elite Medical Experts, LLC.

Areas of Expertise:

Anesthesiology Bariatric Surgery Cardiology Cardiothoracic Surgery Critical Care Dermatology Ears, nose & throat (Otolaryngology) Emergency Medicine Endocrinology Epidemiology Family Medicine Gastroenterology General Surgery Gerontology Gynecologic Oncology Gynecology Hand Surgery Hospital Medicine (Hospitalist) Infectious Disease Intensive Care (ICU) Medicine Internal Medicine Interventional Radiology Laparoscopic Surgery Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Neonatology Nephrology Neurology Neurosurgery Obstetrics Oncology Ophthalmology Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Orthodontics Orthopaedic Surgery Pathology Pediatrics Perinatology Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PMR) Podiatry Psychiatry Pulmonology Radiology Rheumatology Sports Medicine Toxicology Urology Vascular Surgery

Gary Ciment, PhD, is a Professor in the School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Sciences University, and has taught Human Anatomy and Human Neuroanatomy to medical students, residents and physicians for 25 years.

As an expert witness, he has worked with lawyers to offer clinical insights and to develop strategies for their cases, based on anatomical and neurological principles. Ignorance of these principles is often the root cause of medical and surgical malpractice. As a professional educator with numerous teaching awards, Dr. Ciment is also an expert at communicating complex issues in an easily understood fashion. His services are available to counsel representing both plaintiff and defendant.

Areas of Neurological and Surgical Specialization:

• Anatomy of the Upper and Lower Limb
• Anatomy of the Thorax and Abdomen
• Anatomy of the Pelvis and Perineum (Groin)
• Neuroanatomy of the Brain, Spinal Cord, Peripheral Nerves
• Peripheral Nerve Damage
• Central Nervous System Damage

Over the years, Dr. Ciment has served as a reviewer of NIH and NSF grants, as well as various private research organizations. He has served on the editorial board of several international journals, and has published extensively in the area of neurobiology.

Anthony C Chang, MD, MBA, MPH, MS is internationally recognized as an expert in the field of Pediatric Cardiology. Dr. Chang has 30 years of experience and special expertise in Congenital Heart Disease and Perioperative Care as well as Cardiomyopathy and Sudden Death in pediatric patients. Dr. Chang has a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from University of Miami School of Business and a master's degree in Biomedical Data Science from Stanford University. He also has a master’s degree in Public Health from UCLA, from which he graduated with the Dean’s Award for academic excellence. 

Doctor Chang - Being A Doctor

Dr. Chang has been offering litigation support services to the legal community for many years. His expertise is available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. Dr. Chang has been deposed and/or testified over 200 times since 1990. Areas of Specialization:

Congenital Heart Disease Cardiac Surgery Sudden Death Cardiac Intensive Care Heart Failure

Postoperative Care Pulmonary Hypertension Public Health Sports Medicine Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

A world-renown leader in pediatric cardiology innovation, Dr. Chang is a member of the grant review committee for pediatric research at the National Institutes of Health. Respected in his field, Dr. Chang is a member the board of directors for the American Heart Association. Providing leadership in education, he has served with the faculty of UCLA School of Public Health (eMPH program) and has taught global health for UCLA’s eMPH. He also teaches pediatric cardiology to cardiology fellows and holds a volunteer faculty appointment at the UCLA School of Medicine. 

A prolific author, Dr. Chang is the chief editor of the textbook Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care and the past president-elect of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS). He is the chief editor of the textbook Heart Failure in Children and Young Adults. He is a regular reviewer for “Circulation,” “Pediatric Critical Care Medicine,” “Critical Care Medicine,” and numerous other journals. Dr. Chang has been voted “Physician of Excellence” by the Orange County Medical Association and also selected as one of America’s “Top Doctors,” “Top Pediatricians,” and “Best Cardiologists” by several organizations. 

View Dr. Chang's Consulting Profile.

Alexander R. Marmureanu, MD, is a prominent Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon, with a special expertise in the field of minimally invasive surgery where he developed and pioneered several techniques and procedures. He maintains a busy and active cardiothoracic surgery practice performing over 400 surgical cases per year with outstanding results.

Litigation Support - Dr. Marmureanu provides expert witness case review for issues involving Cardiothoracic Medical Malpractice. His services are available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defense.

Education and Background Experience - Dr. Marmureanu completed his General Surgery Residency and a research fellowship at New York University Medical Center in New York City. He continued his surgical training at Mount Sinai Medical Center, also in New York City, where he was actively involved in the field of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery research. His cardiothoracic surgery fellowship was completed at UCLA, where he continued to practice as UCLA faculty/Clinical Instructor, and then joined Cedars Sinai Medical staff.

Achievements - Dr. Marmureanu is nationally and internationally recognized in the field of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery and has authored numerous research papers and clinical publications. He has built several very successful cardiothoracic surgery programs, and appeared as guest speaker on numerous TV and radio shows discussing the benefits of cutting edge surgical techniques as well as the advantages of minimally invasive surgery for the thoracic and cardiovascular patients. He is a member of multiple organizations Boards and committees, both nationally and internationally.

View Dr. Marmureanu's Consulting Profile.

Andrew J. Manganaro, MD has been a board certified Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon for more than 25 years. He has experience in all areas of adult cardiac, vascular, and thoracic surgery, and has cared for more than 10,000 patients in his practice.

Litigation Support - Dr. Manganaro has more than 15 years of experience in medical expert opinions for both plaintiffs and defendants. His services include medical record review, written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. He is licensed to practice in Ohio, Michigan, Delaware, New Mexico, Illinois, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota.

Areas of Expertise:

Cardiac Surgery Pulmonary Surgery Esophageal Surgery

Trauma Surgery Vascular Surgery Endovascular Surgery