Medical-Legal Research Expert Witnesses

Use an experienced nurse with your Life Care Plans and legal cases.  Dr. Turkington's extensive experience translates into details that matter.  

Dr. Kirsten Turkington is a Certified Nurse Life Care Planner and board certified Family Nurse Practitioner with multistate nursing licensure. Dr. Turkington provides life care plan construction and reviews, cost estimations, care coordination, and case management services.  She maintains an active clinical practice and focuses on Life Care Plans and cost estimates for litigation and nonlitigation, insurance and medical concerns; plaintiff and defense clients; families, individuals, estates, trusts and financial planners.

Dr. Turkington's clinical background encompasses the continuum of clinical care.  Experience includes pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric care across Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Neurosurgical, Rehabilitation, Skilled Nursing and outpatient disciplines. 

Dr. Turkington is a published author and experienced presenter as well as a National Registry certified EMT (NREMT).

Diagnoses (but not limited to):

• Catastrophic conditions (multiple trauma, firearms, birth related)
• Complex medical concerns (cardiac, transplants, multi-organ)
• Neurological injuries (Strokes, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury)
• Neurosurgical conditions (Chiari, Syringomyelia, Hydrocephalus, Shunts)
• Assault and interpersonal violence

Services:

• Life care plans:  Comprehensive, Preliminary, Reviews and independent third party evaluations
• Cost Estimations for future care
• Billing Audits 
• Medical Record Reviews and Audits
• Medical Chronologies
• Special Need Trust Advising
• Medical Client Advocacy 
• Special Education
  • IEP Consultation and Advocacy
  • Section 504 Consultation and Advocacy

View Dr. Turkington's Consulting Profile.

• Neurological Injuries (Brain and Spinal Cord Injury)
• Burns
• Orthopedic Injures
• Amputation
• Chronic Pain
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Expert Testimony
• Life Care Planning
• Mini/Preliminary Life Care Plan
• Video Services
• Medical Record Review
• RN Independent Medical Exam
• Medicare Set Aside Trust Analysis
• Medical Bill Auditing
• Questions: Deposition Cross Examining

The Physician Assistant Experts Network™ is a referral resource for attorneys seeking expert medical opinions on the standard of care provided by physician assistants and advanced nurse practitioners. The PA Experts Network™ was founded by Jeffrey G. Nicholson, PA-C, Ph.D., M.Ed., MPAS, an experienced medical-legal consultant and a leader in the physician assistant profession. He will either help you personally or facilitate a physician assistant expert from his network of board certified Physician Assistant Experts in all medical specialties. See his article on this website. Practicing 29 years, a PA Educator, Assistant Professor, and Director of the University of Wisconsin Physician Assistant Program.

Services Include:

• Medical Records Review, Deposition, Testimony, Referrals

Education and Certifications:

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, 2008
• Master of Education, M.Ed., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1989
• Masters Degree in Physician Assistant Studies, University of Nebraska Click here for Website to see complete resume and photo.

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:

View Dr. Persky's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Patricia J. Bartzak, DNP, RN, CMSRN, is a skilled hospital nurse clinician with 18 years of direct nursing care of patients with infectious diseases and trauma patients, including injuries and diseases related to neurologic, cardiac, renal, renal transplant, spinal, orthopedic and acute and chronic pain and oncologic diagnoses.  Located on the east coast with current nursing licenses both in Massachusetts and California. Has reviewed more than 50 cases in 5 years, written several reports, and been deposed about 8 times in person and video. Currently working in a hospital designated as level-1 trauma center. 

Continued active contributions to the field of nursing as nurse educator, nurse researcher, professional journal column editor and leadership initiatives through active participation in professional nursing organizations.  Currently serving a second term as an elected Regional Coordinator for Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honor society.

Direct care experience with complex airways, cervical instability, multi-drain management, invasive monitoring, complex wounds, pain management and surgical interventions from many services: orthopedics, neurology, general surgery, thoracics, infectious disease and gastrointestinal medicine. 

Currently co-chairing the American Nurse's Association (ANA) Scope & Standards of Practice (4th edition), a document that guides nursing practice for the country's 4 milllion nurses.

Nurse educator for several years from undergraduate through the doctoral level including courses in medical-surgical nursing, pathophysiology, psychiatric nursing, nursing research and pharmacology, simulation and clinical rotations.

Column writer for Nursing Evidence-Based Practice column, having published dozens of articles on safe bedside nursing care. Peer reviewer for the Journal of Trauma Nursing.

Served as a nurse voting members of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) with current Collaborative Institutional Training (CITI) certification.

Professional nursing certifications in medical-surgical nursing, trauma nursing, burn nursing and telemetry. 

View Dr. Bartzak's Consulting Profile.

Degrees / Licenses: MD (Licenses: AZ, CA), American Board of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases; Certification Board of Infection Control. HIV Specialist.

See CV on Website for more details.

• Legal Nurse Consulting
• Medical Record Review / Summary
• Case Merit Evaluation/Standards of Care
• Life Care Planning
• Mini / Preliminary Life Plans
• Medicare Set-Aside Allocations
• Expert Fact and Opinion Testimony
• Attendance at Independent Medical Exams
• Litigation Support - Formulation of Discovery Plans, Preparation of Deposition/Cross Examination Questions, Conducting Medical Expert/Opposing Life Care Planner Depositions

Andrew Lawson, MD, is a Stanford trained, board certified Emergency Medicine Specialist. He works full time in a high volume regional adult & children’s medical and trauma center that sees over 60,000 patient visits per year. As a Quality Assurance Director for 20 years, Dr. Lawson has personally reviewed thousands of cases.  Dr. Lawson is uniquely qualified to comment on Standard of Care Issues in Emergency Medicine. He has developed expertise in reviewing medical records for quality improvements and for reducing medical-legal pitfalls in his group’s medical practice. As an Expert Witness, he has developed the skills to provide thorough research and background information, pros and cons to the case, precise timelines, and the highest quality consultation, chart review, and testimony for any situation. His unique teaching methods and presentation skills transform difficult, complex, and diverse topics into easy to understand information for jury members and other laypersons. Areas of Expertise include:

• Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
• Emergency Medicine
• Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Critical Care Issues
• Medical Case Review
• Pre-hospital Care
• Quality Assurance

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 He continues to do research and mentor young physicians and medical students while doing a limited amount of consulting in epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, observatioan 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 leads a Facebook group of 4000 physicians and epidemiologists on reviewing  science daily on Covid-19.

• Catastrophic Medical Case Management - Traumatic Brain Injury, Acquired Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Amputation, Soft Tissue Injury, Chronic Pain, Burns, Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Delay, Chronic Respiratory Conditions, Visual & Hearing Impaired
• Life Care Planning - Comprehensive Record Review and supportive documentation / Case Analysis, Case Summary Chronology, Clinical Interview and History with Patient, Medical-Legal Research, Assessment of Future Medical / Rehabilitation Needs
• Legal Nurse Consulting

A senior clinical faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Harold J. Bursztajn, M.D., is active in patient care in medical, psychiatric and judicial education nationally. He is qualified in both state and federal courts and is nationally recognized as a distinguished impartial, clinical, ethical and forensic expert to P/D attorneys and institutions. Individual and multispecialty team consultations available.

• Informed Consent & Malpractice
• Employment Litigation: ADA, Disability, Sexual Misconduct Discrimination, Worker's Compensation
• Emotional & Physical Damages: Conscious Pain & Suffering, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Neuropsychiatry & Pain Imaging
• Standards For Experts
• Product Liability: Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals, Toxic Tort
• Criminal Justice & Public Safety: Diminished Capacity, Drug Addiction, Competency to Confess, Death Penalty Mitigation, Workplace Safety
• Family & Custody Issues
• Testamentary & Contractual Capacity
• Professional & Organizational Ethics: Patient Care, Managed Care, Privacy
• Psychoanalysis & Cultural Perspectives

EXPERTISE IN: 1. The pathobiology, clinico-pathologic correlation, and histopathologic diagnosis of: diseases of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, rectum, anus, liver, and pancreas. 2. Human neoplasms (cancer) and preneoplastic conditions. 3. Establishing standard of care, causation and cause of death. 

BACKGROUND: 1. Anatomic Pathology Residency: Washington Univ-Barnes Hospital 1991-94. 2. Oncologic Pathology Fellowship: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 1994-95. 3. Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology Fellowship: Harvard-Brigham & Womens Hospital 1995-96. 4. Instructor at Harvard Medical School: 1996-1998. 5. Assistant Professor and Director of Gastrointestinal Pathology Division at Univ. of Texas Health Science Center-Hermann Hospital, Houston Medical Center: 08/1998 - 12/2000. 6. Staff GI Pathologist and Quality Assurance Director at Caris/Miraca Life Sciences, Dallas TX: 01/2001 - 04/2012. 7. Staff Pathologist, Anatomic Pathology Division of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, Long Island NY: 05/2013 - 05/2015. 8. Staff Pathologist, Anatomic Pathology Division of Alliance Health Sciences, Dallas TX: 01/2016 - present. 9. Sole Proprietor of Expert Pathology Consultation Services Laboratory since 01/2001.         

Dr. Torres was instrumental in creating a rather unique model of Gastrointestinal Pathology subspecialty-focused laboratory, that during his 12 yrs tenure became one of the largest private national Anatomic Pathology laboratories-Caris/Miraca Life Sciences.

Kenneth A. Stein, MD
 Board Certified Emergency Medicine & Internal Medicine
Subspecialty Certified in NeuroCritical Care

Kenneth A. Stein, MD, ABPS, ABIM, UCNS, is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Louis University School of Medicine (a Level 1 Trauma Center). Dr. Stein currently practices Emergency Medicine and Critical Care / Intensive Care Medicine. For 20 years, Dr. Stein was an Emergency Physician at St. Anthony's Medical Center of St. Louis, one of the busiest emergency departments in the State of Missouri. 

Dr. Stein has extensive experience in providing medical-legal expert services, having reviewed over 500 cases (both plaintiff and defense) and having given testimony  over 200 times. Dr. Stein furnishes an unbiased opinion on medical malpractice/negligence cases. He also provides medical opinion concerning causation. Dr. Stein does not guarantee a favorable outcome but provides an honest assessment.

Dr. Stein has lectured nationally, and consults in the area of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Product Development and Marketing.

Dr. Stein reviews cases (for both Plaintiff and Defense) of alleged Medical Malpractice / Negligence in areas including:

• Emergency Medicine        
• Critical Care Medicine / Intensive Care Medicine          
• Internal Medicine

Services provided include:

• Medical chart review and analysis   
• Providing opinion concerning the presence or absence of Negligence / Breach of the Standard of Care, Damages / Injury and Causation      
• Survey of case for merit 
• Preparation of reports and / or affidavits        
• Preparation for opposing expert deposition and cross-examination        
• Medical literature search    
• Expert witness testimony at deposition and trial

Call 314-495-7009 for a complete CV, including presentations.