Medical Causation Analysis Expert Witnesses: 48

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.

My qualifications include: 

• Award-winning emergency physician in active practice with 30 years clinical experience
• Former Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine (Volunteer) at University of California San Francisco School of Medicine
• Current VP of company that staffs 500 emergency departments, overseeing more than 5000 ER providers in risk management and quality assurance issues 
• Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians (FACEP) 
• Past President of the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians 
• Medical Director of California Highway Patrol 
• Extensive publication and speaking experience in the area of emergency medicine

Wayne H. Grant, PharmD, is a Clinical Pharmacist with over 30 years of pharmacy experience working in or within various practice settings—retail, long-term care, home infusion, sterile products, corrections, hospice, specialty, and hospitals.  

Dr. Grant has prepared and delivered educational programs to physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals based on his extensive experience in multiple disease states. Programs include topics such as Pain Management, COPD, and Motor Neuron Diseases.

Serving as an integral member of multiple pharmacy and therapeutics committees, he has promoted evidence-based interventions while driving quality initiatives and building a highly collaborative consortium among healthcare professionals.  

Earning his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Florida, his Master of Business Administration for Kent State University, and his Bachelor of Science from Ohio Northern University highlights Dr. Grant's drive for education, understanding, and application of pharmacy services.  

Dr. Wayne Grant on Consulting with Attorneys

Litigation Support - Dr. Grant is an expert in pharmacy practice. His expertise in long-term, institutional, infusion, and retail practice allow for an extensive understanding of the various pharmacy sectors. He is responsible for pharmacotherapeutic management, medication safety and efficacy and drug information all which follow federal, state, and local laws. He has provided a variety of expert witness services on behalf of legal professionals, including attorney consultation, case review, case opinion, and written case opinion. 

Areas of Medication Expertise:

Adverse Drug Reactions Chronic Pain Drugs and Narcotics Geriatrics Hospice / Palliative Care Hospital Pharmacy Infusion Pharmacy

Long Term Care Medical-Legal Issues Nursing Homes Overdosages Pain Management Pharmaceutical Care Pharmacology Acute Rehab Hospital

View Dr. Grant's Consulting Profile.

Gregory P. Brown, MD, is a is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and specializes in the fields of adult Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. His private office is dedicated to the practice of Forensic Psychiatry, and includes evaluations for matters in civil court, criminal court, family court, and independent psychiatric evaluations.

Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and the Residency Training Program Director, at the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Medicine. He founded the Psychiatry Residency Training Program, and has been the Residency Training Director since the time of the first entering class in 2004, under the UNRSOM.

Litigation Support - Dr. Brown has extensive experience in medico-legal work. As a Board Certified Forensic Psychiatrist, he has worked in diverse areas of this subspecialty of psychiatry. Dr. Brown offers litigations support services to attorneys for Plaintiff and Defendant.

Services include Disability Evaluations, Estate Planning Capacity Evaluations, Independent Psychiatric Evaluations, Medical Board Evaluations, Fitness for Duty Evaluations, Department of Energy Fitness Evaluations, Social Security Appeals Record Reviews, and Independent File Reviews for Medical Necessity and for Disability Claims.

Forensic Experience Includes:

• Criminal Court Evaluations - Competence to Stand Trial, Assessment of Criminal Responsibility, NGRI Assessments
• Civil Court Evaluations - Personal Injury with Psychiatric symptoms, Brain Injury with Psychiatric symptoms, Malpractice related questions
• Family Court Evaluations - Involuntary Commitment, Guardianship, Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Contractual Capacity, Fitness to Parent, Child Custody
• Third Party Forensic Evaluations - Fitness for Duty, Return to Work, Disability, ADA Accommodations, Medical Necessity, Independent Psychiatric Evaluations

Charles H. Heller, PhD, is a Forensic Psychology Expert with over 35 years of experience in his field. Dr. Heller is currently on staff at Rutgers University Biomedical Health Service, specializing in criminal behavior and risk assessment. He also serves as a forensic psychologist consultant for the Rockland County (NY) court evaluation service, where he has performed hundreds of child custody, as well as criminal competency and child abuse/neglect evaluations.

Litigation Support - Dr. Heller specializes in conducting custody evaluations, providing the review and analysis of potentially mitigating circumstances in connection with criminal behavior, and providing consultation to attorneys regarding civil litigation. He has extensive court experience in Civil, Criminal, and Family Court cases. Dr. Heller is a fully vetted and approved forensic psychologist for the NJ Office of the Public Defender as well as other Public Defender offices. (Federal Public Defender, Legal Aid in Manhattan, Bronx, Kings, and the NYC assigned counsel program). He often travels throughout the US as a forensic consultant in important court cases including military Court Martials, death row assessment, sexual abuse, assault, and multiple homicides. He is well-known and respected among his colleagues as a clinician and as a forensic psychologist/expert witness.

Civil Litigation - (Emotional and Mental Injury) - Dr. Heller is retained by both plaintiff and defense counsel to assess plaintiffs for emotional and mental injury. He takes an unbiased, ethical approach to assessments and is not "a hired gun." He is an expert in objective evaluations that assess the probability the plaintiff is suffering PTSD, other emotional injuries, or if there is an exaggeration of symptoms based upon psychological testing and other data. He has expertise in cases that involve group home / residential schools, provider negligence, and assaults.

Criminal Litigation - Dr. Heller is experienced in providing successful rebuttal testimony explaining the scientific issues related to the problems of validity, reliability, and usefulness of "Syndrome evidence" such as "Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome" and "Rape Trauma Syndrome." He testifies in child sexual abuse cases and explains research related to false allegations, recantations, memory, suggestibility, child testimony, interview protocols, and "Believed-In Imaginings" in children and adults. He has expertise in domestic violence and has assessed women who have been victims of intimate partner violence and "Battered Women Syndrome" that contributed to homicides, assaults, and other felonies by the victims of abuse.

Manhattan: (Mailing Address) Two Park Avenue, 20th Floor New York, NY 10016 Phone: 212-880-3789 Alt. Phone: 845-354-0535 Fax: 845-354-1287

New Jersey: (Alternate Mailing Address 140 East Ridgewood Avenue South Tower, Suite 415 Paramus, NJ 07652 Phone: 201-262-0331 Fax: 845-354-1287

View Dr. Heller's Consulting Profile.

Spine Surgery and Spine Medicine Consultant

The concepts of evidence-based medicine have been the cornerstone of Dr. Dillin’s education during his spine surgery fellowship in Neurosurgery and Orthopaedic Surgery and the format for decision-making in his subsequent practice. The critical analytic features inherent in the ‘best evidence’ approach to patients have permeated his writing and his lectures, allowing flexible adaptation as the science has changed. Since July 1985, Dr. Dillin has been exclusively devoted to clinical spine, interventional spine, and spine surgery practice. The combination of clinical critical thinking in conjunction with evidence-based medicine practice, allows spine specialty focus on any Independent Medical Evaluations or Medical-Legal Reviews. He is in clinical practice performing spine surgery, spine interventions, and evaluating patients with spine conditions. He is licensed in California, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Nevada. Dr. Dillin was a former partner at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. I spent 2022-2023 in clinical practice and at the Effective Writing in Health Care program sponsored by Harvard Medical School. The program encompassed online and onsite (Boston) attendance. My study subject was the history of the expert witness in general, and more specifically, the medical expert witness. My capstone project, from the ‘Writing for the Public’, division is attached. This is the narrative account of “The Trial of the Medical Expert Witness.”

Litigation Support - For over 35 years, Dr. Dillin has traveled to refine and acquire the technical skills invested in Spine Surgery and Spine Interventions. His expert witness activity is embodied in his Harvard Capstone, "The Trial of the Medical Expert Witness." Dr. Dillin offers Independent Medical Evaluations and/or Medical-Legal Review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Spine Surgery Spine Interventions Cervical Spine Surgery Thoracic Spine Surgery Lumbar Spine Surgery Failed Back Surgery Scoliosis Kyphosis Minimally Invasive Surgery

Spine Fusion Cervical Fusion Lumbar Fusion Artificial Disc Replacement Microsurgery Spinal Product Liability Spine Medical Malpractice Spine IMEs Spine IMRs

Jason C. Goodwin, MS, MPH, RN, CNOR, is a highly skilled and decorated Veteran Nurse Corps Lieutenant, honorably discharged in 2006. As a Registered Nurse, Operating Room Manager, Director, and Administrator, he has extensive experience with regulatory mandates, expertise in national clinical standards, and ensuring best practices in procedural safety culture.

As a procedural department administrator and clinician, Mr. Goodwin has personally supervised the safe care in and around various procedures and operating room venues for 17 years, totaling approximately 300,000 individual patient encounters. An expert with quality and safety compliance regulation, he has successfully prepared teams for Joint Commission, AAAHC, Medicare, Inspector General, and State audits.  Mr. Goodwin has experience managing as many as 20 managers, 4 Lean/Six Sigma process-improvement personnel, 500 total employees, and $1.8 Billion in annual gross revenue.

Clinical Experience Medical Surgical Nursing Shock / Trauma Intervention Procedural Services Preoperative, Intraoperative, and Postoperative Care Procedural Sedation Clinical Educator

Operational / Leadership Experience 2003 Iraqi War Veteran Multi-site Surgical Venues - UC Davis Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Level 1 Trauma Academic Medical Center – UC Davis Medical Center Military – Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Operation Iraqi Freedom Fee for Service Ambulatory Surgery Services – ABSMC Surgery Center Clinic Management – Perioperative Medicine Clinic, Kaiser Permanente

Litigation Support - Mr. Goodwin provides expert witness services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. He has been retained in approximately 30 cases. His services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. 

Areas of Expertise:

Surgical Standard of Care Medical / Surgical Units Operating Room Injuries Sterile Processing Adverse Quality / Safety Events Pre & Postoperative Complications Pain Procedures / Procedural Sedation Positioning Injuries Wrong Site Surgeries

National Nursing Standards Regulatory Guidelines Nursing Administration Medical Devices Patient Falls Medication Errors Failure to Rescue Team Communication Emergency Preparedness

Joseph W. Burke, MD, board certified, actively participating Diagnostic Radiologist with over 18 years of experience. Dr. Burke has practiced for the last 16 years at Reading Health system which has one of the busiest Emergency Departments on the East Coast and is a Level 2 Trauma Center.

Dr. Burke is a frequent presenter at weekly Tumor, Trauma, Thoracic, and Gastrointestinal Conferences. He served as Chief of the Ultrasound department for several years and currently sits on his group Board of Directors. He offers teaching services, educating radiology technology students, medical students, and residents.

Litigation Support - Dr. Burke provided Medical-Legal forensic case review for attorneys in numerous cases. He has extensive experience in the interpretation of Neurologic and Body Imaging studies and has read in excess of 250,000 images including MRIs, X-Rays, CT Scans, and ultrasounds. Dr. Burke's services are available to counsel representing plaintiff and defendant and include medical record review, written reports, deposition, arbitration, and trial testimony as needed.

Radiology and Diagnostic Radiology Areas of Expertise:

Neurologic Imaging Spine Imaging Vascular Imaging Trauma Radiology Emergent Radiology Body and Neurologic CT Pulmonary Imaging

Gastrointestinal Imagining Genitourinary Imaging Gynecologic Imaging CT Scan MRI Ultrasound X-ray

Current Memberships and Affiliations:

• American Medical Association
• Pennsylvania Medical Society
• American College of Radiology
• Radiological Society of North America
• Eastern Radiological Society
• Pennsylvania Radiological Society

Howard M. Kipen MD, MPH, is Board certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine. Dr. Kipen earned a BA from UC Berkeley, MD from UCSF, and MPH from Columbia University. He currently serves as Director of the Clinical Research and Occupational Medicine Division and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at Rutgers University. Dr. Kipen’s research focuses on clinical and epidemiological studies of the health effects of Indoor and Ambient Air Pollution. His research uses both controlled exposure models with ozone, fresh aerosols, and diesel-enriched on-road exposures, primarily with drives on the New Jersey Turnpike. A new EPA study examines health benefits of portable air cleaners for reducing indoor air pollution levels. Biomarker outcomes presently emphasized are exhaled breath oxidative stress and invasive and noninvasive measures of vascular function. Dr. Kipen has published morethan 200 articles on environmental / occupational health. Scholarly Activities:

• Former Chair, NASA Human Research Program’s Advanced Environmental Health / Advanced Food Technology Standing Review Panel
• Member, National Academies Standing Committee on Medical and Epidemiological Aspects of Air Pollution on U.S. Government Employees and their Families, 2016
• Chair / Member Multiple Ad Hoc Grant Review Panels (e.g., NIEHS, Department of Defense)
• Governor’s Appointee, Public Employee’s Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, New Jersey Department of Labor
• Member, Public Health Scientific Advisory Board, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Litigation Support: Dr. Kipen has 35 years of litigation experience. He has expertise in various Toxic Torts including asbestos, benzene, mold, air pollution, occupational and environmental cancers, and other diseases. He also has expertise on "Multiple Chemical Sensitivities" (MCS). Dr. Kipen has particular experience as an asbestos plaintiff's expert and both plaintiff and defense experience with other toxic torts. His services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Dr. Mayer is an independent consultant and scholar that (for identification only) holds the position of Visiting Fellow in Human Flourishing,  Harvard University. He has been a full-time tenured professor with recent appoints in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, public health and medicine (psychiatry). He held various titles including, Professor (Part-time), Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Affiliated Professor, Mayo Clinic/ASU joint program in Biomedical Informatics, a member of the Research Staff at Mayo Clinic, and Professor at Arizona State University. 

Dr. Mayer continues to do research and mentor young physicians and medical students while doing a limited amount of consulting in epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, observation studies and clinical trials. His consulting projects often focus on model development, execution and inferences. He is one of the few MD/PhD epidemiologists. He led a  group of 6000 physicians and epidemiologists that reviewed the science of COVID-19 

William Santoro, MD is board certified in Addiction Medicine and board eligible in Family Medicine. He is the Chief of the Section of Addiction Medicine at Tower Health and was the Medical Director at the Reading Hospital & Medical Center detoxification/rehabilitation program. Dr. Santoro was also the Medical Director at a Methadone Treatment center  for 22 years, until 2021, where he is responsible for prescribing methadone to approximately 950 opiate dependent patients.

Dr. Santoro is the Addictionist on staff at The Reading Hospital & Medical Center within the Department of Family and Community Medicine. He is consulted by hospitalists to care for patients admitted to the hospital with addiction complicating their condition. Dr. Santoro runs an outpatient program treating over the 300 patients with buprenorphine (Suboxone/Sublocade) or Vivitrol maintenance. With an interest in Sports Medicine in 2001, he served as a volunteer physician for the U.S. Olympic Training Team in Lake Placid, New York.

Dr. Santoro has been deposed more than a dozen times in the past several years. He has testified in court numerous times on behalf of the plaintiff as well as for the defense. He has testified in Federal Court and been involved in cases concerning the pharmaceutical industry.

Areas of Expertise:

• All aspects of Addiction Medicine
• Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
  • Buprenorphine
  • Naltrexone
  • Methadone
• Dual Diagnosis Pain/Addiction

View Dr. Santoro's Consulting Profile.

Paul J. Michaels, MD, is a nationally renowned Anatomical and Clinical Pathologist with over 20 years of experience in his field. Dr. Michaels completed his medical residency and earned a Fellowship in Cytopathology from Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School.

Litigation Support - Dr. Michaels offers expert witness services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defense. He has written over 100 general causation reports focusing on pathology and providing an extensive differential diagnosis in order to provide an opinion with a reasonable degree of medical certainty. Dr. Michaels has participated in numerous MDLs, been deposed over 60 times, and testified in court 6 times.

Areas of Expertise:

Anatomic Pathology Clinical Pathology Cytopathology Cancer Pathology Oncologic Pathology General Surgical Pathology

Breast Cancer / PremPro Vaginal Mesh Talc / Ovarian Cancer Zantac / Cancer Hair Relaxer / Uterine and Ovarian Cancer Smoking-related Cancer

Background Experience - Dr. Michaels is currently a member of a 10-pathologist group that operates the largest and most comprehensive anatomic pathology services laboratory within Central and Coastal Oregon. He is one of two pathologists responsible for covering Bay Area Hospital, the largest hospital on the Oregon Coast, which serves as a regional referral center.

Dr. Michaels' roles at Bay Area Hospital include: Chairman of Pathology; Member of the Hospital Medical Executive Committee; Medical Director for Transfusion Medicine, Hematology, and Cytopathology; Member of the Cancer Committee; and Member of the Trauma Committee.

At Southern Coos Hospital and Medical Center, Dr. Michaels serves as Laboratory Medical Director where his Anatomic Pathology responsibilities include frozen sections, gross evaluation and sign-out of complex surgical specimens, review of numerous outpatient biopsies, GYN and NON-GYN cytology, presentation at tumor board conferences, and performing hospital autopsies. Clinical pathology responsibilities include peripheral blood smear and body fluid review, crystal identification, and evaluation of blood transfusion reactions.

Speaking Engagements and Presentations - Dr. Michaels has delivered seminars and presentations in Canada, Japan, and throughout the United States. Topics have included cytopathology, breast cancer, acute cellular rejection, and many more. 

Brent Moelleken, MD, FACS is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon practicing in Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara. Double board certified, he received his training at Harvard University, Yale University, UCSF, and UCLA. Dr. Moelleken is one of three specialty-trained surgeons in the world to complete the year-long Aesthetic Surgery Fellowship at UCLA. He is an Attending Surgeon and Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at UCLA, where he often performs surgeries and teaches residents. Here, he specializes in patients diagnosed with skin cancers in the facial area who require complex, artful reconstructions. 

Dr. Moelleken has innovated various procedures including LiveFill®, autologous fat-fascial grafts; the USIC® & LUSIC® cheeklifts, short incision cheeklifts; the 360 Facelift®, a comprehensive natural appearing facelift procedure; and the Hybrid Tummy Tuck®, a short incision tummy tuck for fit moms. He believes in publishing the results of his innovations in peer-reviewed journals. Results of Dr. Moelleken’s studies have been published in books, articles, and the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal. Dr. Moelleken provides free surgical services to Veterans at the West Los Angeles Veteran's Hospital through his UCLA affiliation, and has his own charity, the About Face Foundation ™, helping children and victims of violence or crime who might otherwise be unable to afford reconstructive services. Several of his charity patients have been featured in local and national television and print segments.

Litigation Support - Dr. Brent Moelleken provides expert witness support for insurance companies and counsel representing both plaintiff and defendant. His services include medical case review, depositions, and trial testimony when necessary. Dr. Moelleken has trial experience with the following issues:

Cosmetic Surgery Reconstructive Surgery Medical Malpractice

Burns & Wounds Scar Revision Lien Work

View Dr. Moelleken's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Robert Evans, PhD,  is a Licensed School Psychologist with over 30 years of experience in the behavioral sciences, including completing over 100 Child Custody Evaluations. Dr. Evans serves as a consultant to the medical, legal, and law enforcement community in Florida on Psychological and Educational matters. He consulted with Orange County Public Defender with cases involving arrest and incarceration of children, including Competency Assessments and Insanity Determinations. He has also provided Critical Incident Stress Debriefings to victims of crime in the Central Florida area. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Evans specializes in Parental Alienation cases which are commonly among those classified as High Conflict Divorce cases and he has written a book on Parental Alienation. He provides litigation support to counsel for both Plaintiff and Defense. His services include support with hearing / trial preparations, review of current evaluations, and support during and after the litigation process. 

Dr. Evans has given sworn testimony as a Forensic Psychology expert witness in NY, IL, PA, GA, FL, IA, ID, CO, OH, TX, TN, LA, MA, MD, MO, NC, SC, WA, and OR. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Parental Alienation
• Child Custody Evaluations
• False Allegations of Abuse
• Treatment Considerations for Alienated Children

Dr. Farr Ajir, MD, MBA, FACS, CIME, is a Board Certified Neurosurgeon with more than 35 years of experience in the treatment of disorders of the Brain and Spine. He is also Certified by the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (CIME).

Dr. Ajir has been staff neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Systems.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS),  Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and California Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is a Certified Physician Executive (CPE) with many years of leadership and administrative experience in healthcare delivery.

Litigation Support - As an expert neurosurgeon with decades of experience, Dr. Ajir offers services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. He performs Independent Medical Exammination, and provides expert reviews and medical-legal opinions. Dr. Ajir holds medical licenses in California, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin, and Utah. 

Areas of Expertise: 

Brain

Brain Abscesses & Infections Brain Concussions Brain Contusions Brain Edema Brain Hemorrhages Brain Injuries Brain Tumors Cerebral Aneurysms Cerebral Vascular Diseases Cranioplasty

Craniotomy Head Traumas Hydrocephalus Microneurosurgery Pituitary Tumors Skull Fractures Stereotactic Neurosurgery Vascular Malformations Ventriculoperitoneal Shunts

Spine

Back Pain & Injuries Back Pain & Injuries Cervical Disc Diseases Cervical & Lumbar Disc Surgeries Cervical & Lumbar Laminectomy Lumbar Disc Diseases Microdiscectomy

Neck Pain & Injuries Spinal Abscesses & Infections Spinal Cord Injuries Spinal Cord Tumors Spinal Stenosis & Spondylosis Spine Fractures Spine Injuries