Hospitals - Health Care Facilities Expert Witnesses

Steven M. Simons, MD, FACP, FCCP, is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases. Dr. Simons has been awarded the distinction of Fellowship in both of these disciplines, based on his national reputation, quality of care, teaching and publications. He continues to actively teach and is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Dr. Simons has over 25 years of experience as an expert witness, representing both defense and plaintiffs. He is proud of the fact that his meticulous case evaluations often disclose critical information that was not appreciated prior to his review. He is an articulate, highly credible witness and has successfully testified in many high profile cases.

Dr. Simons is highly experienced at conducting independent medical evaluations. He is an expert in quantitating the degree of impairment resulting from a variety of exposures and injuries; his reports are exemplary. Dr. Simons approaches the patient in a warm, unbiased manner. Perhaps the best evidence of this is the number of claimants who, following such an evaluation, requested that he become their physician despite the fact that his conclusions were not in their favor.

Areas of Expertise:

Lung Disease Asthma Pulmonary Fibrosis Lung Cancer

Pulmonary Embolism Dyspnea Shortness of Breath Cough

View Dr. Simons' Consulting Profile.

Cynthia (Cyndy) Minnery RN, BSN has over 30 years of experience caring for the elderly within Acute Care, Skilled Nursing, and Assisted Living Facilities. Ms. Minnery has worked as a Director of Quality Compliance in Skilled Nursing and Home Health Care. She now owns Residential Care Facilities and is familiar with the Standards of Care expected of caregivers in these settings.

Ms. Minnery has years of experience and training in care of the elderly and common disorders like Alzheimer’s Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, and other Geriatric Syndromes. She currently serves on the San Diego Dementia Consortium board of directors and Clinical advisory committee.

Cyndy Minnery has been an expert witness for elder abuse cases within Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE) since 2012. Her reputation for providing exceptional care as an RCFE owner/administrator is well known within San Diego county, caring for residents with the highest level of compassion. Ms. Minnery provides medical record review and other services to attorneys for Plaintiff and Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

Residential Care for Elderly Assisted Living Nursing Homes Title 22 Regulatory Compliance Standards of Care

Elder Abuse Bedsores Wound Care Falls Medication Management

View Cyndy Minnery's Consulting Profile.

John M. White, CPP, CHPA is Board Certified in Security Management; Certified Protection Professional (CPP); Certified Healthcare Protection Administrator (CHPA); and a Published Author.

Mr. White has been a professional security practitioner, security consultant, and expert witness since 1999. He has over 40 years of experience in Corporate Security Management and Law Enforcement and Security consulting, including physical security, security operations, regulatory compliance, & security training. Prior to forming Protection Management, LLC, Mr. White served a distinguished career in law enforcement, corporate security, and the military.

As a security consultant, Mr. White has developed and/or assessed security programs involving multi-unit residential properties, hotels/motels, homeless shelters, tourism services, places of worship, retail stores, high rise office/residential buildings, food services, entertainment services, healthcare services, hospitals, long-term care facilities/assisted living, parking facilities, college campuses, lounges, and other commercial properties.

In 2013, Mr. White was approached by publisher Butterworth-Heinemann and asked to write a book on security risk assessments. That book, titled: Security Risk Assessment – Managing Physical and Operational Security was published in July 2014 and is available online through numerous bookstores.

Litigation Support - Mr. White has been retained by law firms representing plaintiffs and defendants in negligent security, premises liability, and use of force lawsuits in the field of security. His services include case consultation, document review and analysis, deposition, arbitration and mediation, and trial testimony when necessary.

Areas of Expertise:

Crime Prevention Emergency Preparedness Healthcare Security Premises Security Issues Security Risk Assessments Security Audits

Security Training Security Management Security Program Development Security Policies Use of Force Workplace Violence

View John White's Consulting Profile.

Georgia J. Persky RN, MBA, PhD, CLNC, CNOR is a Columbia University trained nurse researcher with over 40 years of broad Clinical Nursing experience and 25 years of senior leadership in Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Home Health organizations. She also has 20 years of Surgical Nursing and Operating Room experience. Dr. Persky has expertise in the micro issues in nursing for adult patient care and the broad management, quality, and regulatory issues in hospitals. 

Background Experience - Dr. Persky served as Vice-President of Nursing and Patient Care Services for the past 25 years and most recently at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. For nine years, she was responsible for Patient Care Services, Risk and Quality Management and Patient Satisfaction for a 750-bed academic hospital. She directed a $200 million budget with 33 patient care units and Care Management, Respiratory Therapy, Social Work and Admitting Departments with 9 direct reports and 2,000 patient care employees.

Litigation Support - As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and Quality Reviewer, Dr. Persky has investigated hundreds of Malpractice and Injury cases as a quality reviewer and can assist in legal case review with chronologies, timelines, and evidence-based reports. She has testifying experience in malpractice and personal injury cases, as well as, with human resource and employee discrimination with an ability to attest to standards of care in clinical litigation. Dr. Persky's services are available to attorneys for the plaintiff and defense seeking an expert in nursing and patient care with a strong understanding of how heath care organizations work.

Areas of Expertise:

Nursing/Hospital Standards of Care Nursing Home and Skilled Nursing Surgical and Perioperative Nursing Quality and Risk Management Fall and Pressure Ulcer Prevention

Hospital Policy and Procedure Medication Safety Medical Device Safety Hospital Administration State, Federal, Joint Commission Regulatory Compliance

View Dr. Persky's Consulting Profile.

William (Bill) C. Mohlenbrock, MD, FACS, has practiced General Orthopedics and Trauma Care, including total joint and arthroscopy surgeries and sports medicine and related injuries for many years at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. He is senior physician in a group of 8 orthopedic surgeons and 2 Physician Assistants.

In addition to orthopedic experience, Dr. Mohlenbrock is a nationally recognized expert in the objective assessment of hospital medical outcomes, Clinical Quality and Cost Efficiencies for inpatient care. He has consulted for hospitals who have found themselves in potential legal situations where the quality of their clinical care has been called into question.

Dr. Mohlenbrock received his BS degree from the University of Illinois and his MD from the St. Louis University School of Medicine. He holds fellowships in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons and the American Association of Physician Leadership. He is a noted lecturer and has published numerous articles on measuring and improving the quality and cost efficiency of medical care.

Comprehensive Quality Data used to Defend Hospitals for Med Mal

Litigation Support - Attorneys wishing to take advantage of Dr. Mohlenbrock's orthopedic and quality assessment experience as well as his communication skills, will receive unbiased, evidence-base opinions. He assists the legal profession whose clients are either plaintiffs or defendants.

Areas of Expertise:

Orthopedic Surgery Adult Reconstructive Surgery Total Joint Surgery Scoliosis Surgery Arthroscopy Surgeries

Sports Medicine Sport-related Injuries Hospital Medical Outcome Assessments Medical Care Efficiency Medical Care Quality

View Dr. Mohlenbrock's Consulting Profile.

Milliman’s Tampa Office provides Health Insurance, Health Care and Employee Benefit Consulting to law firms, insurance companies, hospitals, HMO’s, Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans, employers and government agencies. Our staff is experienced with medical, dental, long-term care, Medicare supplement & critical illness.

We assist clients nationwide with forensic actuarial work, rate filings, regulatory compliance, reserve projections, valuations, employee benefit analysis and design, mergers and acquisitions, demutualizations, claim cost analysis, and utilization management programs.

These health care services are used in litigation relating to:

• Pricing & Underwriting
• Senior Services
• Contract Development and Negotiations
• New Plan Design

Mary Wickens, JD, CFE, CHC has over 35 years experience in the Healthcare Insurance, Managed Care, and Compliance Industry. Her experience includes advising and counseling health care providers, insurers, government contractors, and others in compliance, ethics, fraud and abuse, Medicare, Medicaid and Federal Employees Plan, managed care, and other matters. Background Experience - Ms. Wickens is a former compliance officer for a major health insurer and former legal and compliance specialist for a CMS Medicare Program Safeguard Contractor. Also a former operations director for government programs (Medicare Part C, Medi-gap, and FEHBP) for a major HMO, she is experienced with government audits and investigations, commercial audits, as well as self-reporting and internal investigations. Ms. Wickens has decades of experience as in house counsel to HMOs and health insurers. She has drafted, developed, negotiated, and implemented numerous healthcare provider-payor contracts, and developed and implemented codes of conduct, ethics programs, compliance programs and numerous corrective action plans. Litigation Support - Mary Wickens provides litigation support, including skilled expert services, reports and testimony in federal False Claims Act cases, arbitrations, and provider-payer disputes. She is an experienced testifying expert, responsive to the needs of counsel, with excellent report writing skills. Ms. Wickens' services are available to counsel representing both plaintiff and defendant. Areas of Expertise:

Medicare False Claims Act (FCA) Health Insurance HMO Medicare Advantage Provider / Payor Disputes Claims Audits and Appeals Federal Employees Health Benefits Plans (FEHBP)

Medicare Part D Government Audits DME Home Health Care Hospice Managed Care Contracting Anti-Kickback Compliance Self-disclosures

View Mary Wickens' Consulting Profile.

Tim Keane is recognized nationally and internationally as a Leading Expert on methods to Control, Mitigate and Assess the Risk for Legionella in building and industrial water systems. He has published articles and books on the subject and has co-written regulatory documents including the 2018 and the 2015 ASHRAE Standard titled: Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems,  2005 Guidelines for Ornamental Fountains and the 2000 ASHE Advisory. Mr Keane has over 25 years experience in water system consulting and over 10 years experience in facility design, construction and operation. Legionella Risk Management, Inc. provides consulting services for Effective Engineering Solutions to Engineering System Pathogens including; outbreak investigation, root cause analysis, control and remediation of legionella from water systems in commercial buildings, healthcare and industrial facilities.   We provide Litigation Support in this area.

Lynn M. Shaffer, RN, CLNC®, is Registered Nurse with certification in Legal Nurse Consulting and the founder and managing member of Legal Nurse Consultants of CNY, LLC. Ms. Shaffer's 20 years of nursing experience includes clinical practice in hospitals, outpatient clinics and physician offices, and supervisory roles. She has specialized in Long Term Care / Rehabilitation for most of her nursing career.

Litigation Support - Ms. Shaffer provides consulting and expert witness services for attorneys’ cases including criminal, disability, personal liability, toxic tort, and medical malpractice (specializing in long term care). As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, she assists insurance companies and attorneys with screening cases for merit, locating medical and nursing experts, and analyzing and interpreting medical records for both plaintiff and defense.

Ms. Shaffer's CLNC® services also include: development of reports, timelines and chronologies to highlight the significant medical events, identify adherences to and deviations from applicable standards of care, and assess injuries and identify causation issues and pre-existing contributing factors. She also attends and reports on Independent Medical Exams in the Central New York areas.

Areas of Expertise:

Geriatrics Independent Medical Examinations Long Term Care / Rehabilitation Managed Care Medical Malpractice Medical Records Review Nursing Home Malpractice Nursing Home Medical Malpractice Nursing Home Safety

Nursing Home Staffing / Training Nursing Homes Standards of Care Nursing Malpractice Nursing Policy & Procedures Personal Injury Disability Wrongful Death

Elliott M. Stein, MD is a Geriatric Psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience caring for the elderly. Dr. Stein is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry (October, 1979), and in Geriatric Psychiatry (April, 1991; Re-Certified, December, 2001, and in April, 2011). He is licensed to practice in California and Florida.

Dr. Stein is currently the Director of Psychiatry at the Jewish Home of San Francisco, and the Medical Director of their Geriatric Psychiatry Hospital. He treats older individuals from all over the San Francisco Bay area, typically people who have complex combination of psychiatric and medical problems.

Dr. Stein is a Member of the Task Force on Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence, for the International PsychoGeriatric Association. He is available to serve as an Expert Witness, do legal and forensic consultation, record review, and assessments concerning Psychiatric issues in older individuals. Dr. Stein offers his services to attorneys for both Plaintiff or Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

• Contested Wills and Trusts
• Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Insane Delusions
• Geriatric Competence
• Dementia and Delirium, Alzheimer’s Disease
• Geriatric Psychiatry Evaluation and Treatment, Psychiatric Medication, Psychotherapeutic Issues
• Depression and Anxiety Disorders
• Relationship Problems between the Elderly and their Adult Children
• Aging and Mental Disorders
• Geriatric Psychiatry issues concerning Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Independent and Assisted Living Facilities
• Medicare Psychiatric Services Coding and Documentation

View Dr. Stein's Consulting Profile.

Expert Witness: Retained in Washington, D.C., and over 25 states as an expert in hospital administration who could render opinion after assessing medical records, hospital policies and procedures, medical staff bylaws and regulations, JCAHO standards, depositions, etc. Served as Expert Witness for Plaintiff and Defense. 

Consultant: Has assisted hospitals and health systems with accelerating their performance improvement efforts. Speaks, writes and consults on ethical issues in health care. 

Background Highlights:

• Consultant, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the health system.
• Executive Director of two academic medical centers: Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, Stanford University Hospital and Clinics at Stanford.
• Past chairman of the national advisory board for the University of Chicago’s Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.
• An author of over 175 publications, he has written articles for USA Today, Health Management Quarterly, Trustee, Health Progress, the Journal of Health Administration Education, Frontiers of Health Services Management, Bioethics Forum, Modern Healthcare, the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Stanford Medicine, and Healthcare Executive among others.
• Co-editor of Management Mistakes in Healthcare: Identification, Correction, and Prevention, published by Cambridge University Press in 2005.
• Co-editor of Managing Ethically: An Executive's Guide, published by Health Administration Press in 2001, and a second edition, Managing Healthcare Ethically: An Executive's Guide was published in 2010.
• Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a past member of its Leadership Advisory Committee, and a consultant on health care management ethics since 1994.
• Served as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics.
• Recipient of American Hospital Association's Award of Honor in 2009 and an Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award in 2012.
• Faculty appointments held at Harvard, UCLA, Stanford, Emory, the University of California, and Seton Hall University.
• Bachelor of Science, Master of Public Health, and Doctor of Public Health degrees are from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mark A. Smith, MD, MBA, FACS, FACHE, CPHQ, is an independent senior Healthcare Consultant and a Practicing Vascular Surgeon as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Smith previously served as the Chief Medical Officer with Morrisey Associates Inc/ Morcare LLC for six years. He is a member of HG Healthcare Consultants LLC. Dr. Smith brings over 30 years of clinical practice and hospital management experiences to his work with physicians and hospitals across the United States. He is Board Certified in Vascular Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a member of the American College of Physician Executives, the Society for Vascular Surgery and the Southern California Vascular Surgical Society.

Litigation Support - Dr. Smith provides expert witness services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. His decades of clinical practice as a surgeon and multiple roles in senior hospital administration to his work on peer review, credentialing, ED call, and other matters involving physicians and hospitals across the United States. He has testified several times in the past 5 years.

Areas of Expertise:

Physician Credentialing Physician Peer Review Negligent Credentialing Negligent Peer Review Patient Safety Healthcare Quality

Performance Improvement Fair / Judicial Hearings Medical Staff Affairs Medical Conflicts of Interest Physician Integration / Alignment Physician Conduct

View Dr. Smith's Consulting Profile.

John H. Fullerton, MD, MRO, CMD, CFP, FACP, AGSF, FAAHPM, FASAM is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Addiction Medicine and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. Dr. Fullerton maintains active medical licenses in both California and Florida and holds additional national certificates of added qualifications as a Certified Medical Director (CMD) at multiple levels of care locally and in Home Care (AAHCP). Dr. Fullerton is a certified Clinical Forensics Expert, who has participated in nationally recognized Elder Abuse Cases, including the cases of "lay caregivers" misguidedly criminally charged with homicide or manslaughter after caring for a loved one at home with advanced dementias. He has been vetted by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Office of The Inspector General, and the FBI to perform the duties of a government expert in cases of Criminal Healthcare Fraud. He has served as a key expert witness in the continuing efforts of 'Operation HEAT' and been on the winning side of three criminal convictions. Over roughly the past 14 years, Dr. Fullerton has provided independent medical expert testimony and clinical forensic medical testimony in more than 200 cases and reviewed over 1,500 files (including Medicare Audits for the Government). He has focused his medical expertise in mostly Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Determinations of Medicare Medical Necessity matters, and Civil & Criminal cases alleging Elder Abuse (including homicide) at either discovery, deposition or at trial testifying for both plaintiff and defense cases, respectively. Areas of Expertise:

Adult Hospital Medicine Ambulatory Care - Internal Medicine & Geriatrics Geriatric Approaches to Gero-Psychiatry Immuno-Compromised Host 1 Treatment Long Term Care - SNF Sub-Acute Rehabilitation Assisted Living - Secured Dementia Units

LTC / Hospice Medical Directorships Hospice & Palliative Care Units Home Care Elder Abuse Defense Cases Preventable Falls Pressure Wounds / Pain Management Addiction Medicine - Forensic Toxicology / DUI Defense Cases

View Consulting Profile.

I am a board-certified emergency medicine physician. I have been called upon to express opinions in the areas of medical malpractice, personal injury, negligence, standard of care, and causation. I am involved in both plaintiff and defense cases, and expert witness work accounts for less than 5% of my total income. My qualifications include: o Award-winning emergency medicine physician in active practice with 25+ years clinical experience. o Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, regularly lecturing medical students and teaching clinical medicine in the ED. o Current VP of company that staffs 35 emergency departments, overseeing more than 800 ER providers in risk management and quality assurance issues o Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians (FACEP) o Past President of the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians o Medical Director of California Highway Patrol o Extensive publication and speaking experience in the area of emergency medicine o Experienced expert witness

Dr. Matthew Lee, MD, RPh, MS. is a Physician, Pharmacist, Pharmacologist and Toxicologist who also practices as an Expert Witness and Legal Strategy Consultant. Specific Benefits Include:

• Increased quality and integrity of written expert reports, based on an expanded knowledge base
• Time savings by only having to coordinate and discuss a case with one expert as opposed to two or more
• Since there is so much overlap between fields in the medical profession it is often hard to determine where one scope ends and another begins. This ambiguity is dramatically decreased , and scope increased by combining physician, pharmacist, and pharmacologist into one
• Communication skills of a pharmacist and experience dealing directly with the lay-public, in addition to the knowledge and background of a physician is extremely beneficial describing technical details to a jury
• Practicing in different realms within the healthcare field has allowed Dr. Lee to integrate the multiple facets giving him a unique and distinct perspective that no other expert has.

Case Experience Includes:

Criminal and Civil Cases Anaphylactic Reactions Overdosel Wrongful Death Cardiac Arrest Respiratory Arrest Fentanyl Overdose Dilaudid Overdose Pharmacist Mis-Fills Pharmacist Dispensing Errors

Pharmacy Standard of Care Medication Adverse Effects Falls Related to Medications (in and out of hospital) Toxicology/Toxic Reactions Medical Marijuana Positive Drug Screens in the Workplace Workplace Safety Fit for Duty Testing