Neuropharmacology Expert Witnesses: 6

Merrill S. Wise, MD, is a  a Board-Certified in Psychiatry and Neurology with special qualifications in Child Neurology, and special qualifications in Sleep Medicine. Involved in the full-time practice of sleep medicine, Dr. Wise has evaluated and managed the full range of Sleep Disorders since 1991.

Dr. Wise evaluates children, adolescents, and adults with the full range of sleep problems and disorders. He is involved with supervision and interpretation of polysomnography (sleep studies), Multiple Sleep Latency Tests (MSLT), Maintenance of Wakefulness Tests (MWT), and integration of these findings with the clinical history in order to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Because of the population served in Memphis, Dr. Wise evaluates a large number of pilots (FedEx world hub), air traffic controllers, commercial drivers and barge pilots, rail engineers, and shift workers. He is experienced in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), narcolepsy, and other disorders of excessive sleepiness, insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, restless legs syndrome, and parasomnias.

Litigation Support - Dr. Wise has reviewed a wide variety of cases involving both neurology and sleep medicine for greater than 20 years including report generation, testimony at deposition, and at trial. He has served on numerous national task forces and committees, as well as the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). These experiences have exposed him to the full range of sleep disorders, as well as healthcare systems, best practices and evidence-based standards of care, policies, and the legal aspects of sleep problems and disorders. 

Special Interest and Expertise:  

• Individuals with Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
• Downstream Effects of Sleepiness on
  • Cognitive Function
  • Driving
  • Safety
  • Work
  • Behavioral Regulation

Tracy L. Skaer, PharmD, FASHP, FASCP is a Professor Emeritus of Pharmacotherapy with over 30 years of pharmaceutical experience; 5 years as an expert witness. She is a licensed pharmacist in California, Idaho, and Washington. Dr. Skaer is a Fellow of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacist, and a Member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacist's (ACCP) Pain and Palliative Care Practice and Research Network (PRN).

Dr. Skaer's research interests include chronic pain, comorbid mental illness in chronic disease, depression, anxiety disorders, insomnia, mindfulness, complementary and alternative medicine, and pharamcoeconomics and pharmacoepidemiology. Her research has been supported by over $3.2 million in grants from foundations and pharmaceutical industry.

Litigation Support - Dr. Skaer has completed several expert cases across the United States. Her services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant and include record review, written reports, deposition, and trial testimony. Dr. Skaer's cases involve:

View Dr. Skaer's Consulting Profile.

Mohan Nair, MD, trained at the University of California (Irvine) and Harvard and is board certified in:

Dr. Nair brings his extensive training, clinical experience, and formal board certifications to provide in-depth and nuanced medico-legal analysis of cases for both adults and children involving brain injury, frequently and tragically combined with chronic pain and severe psychological trauma (PTSD). He is committed to comprehensive and accurate forensic examinations, quality neuropsychological assessment, and the use of the most up-to-date technology available in the field.

Dr. Nair has provided extensive trial testimony in defense and plaintiffs' cases. He provides and coordinates medical, psychological, neuropsychological, toxicological, and imaging experts for complex civil litigation. Dr. Nair has been on cases involving:

• TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY: TBI, Mild TBI, CTE, Concussions, Chronic Pain
• SCHOOL DISTRICT CASES: Discrimination, Personal Injury, Willful Misconduct, Sexual Misconduct, and other abuse
• ADULT-ADOLESCENT-CHILD PSYCHIATRY: Neurocognitive Assessment, Neuropsychological Testing, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorders, Malingering, Police Violence, Psychosomatic Disorders, Trauma Evaluations, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
• ELDER MATTERS: Abuse, Dementia, Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence
• MEDICAL TOXICOLOGY: Lead Exposure, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Mold
• STANDARD OF CARE: Psychiatric/Psychological / Psychotherapeutic Malpractice, Wrongful Death from Prescribing Psychiatric Medication

EDUCATION/TRAINING:

• 1970-75 Doctor of Medicine, University of Bombay
• 1981-83 Clinical Fellow in Child Psychiatry, Harvard University; McLean Hospital / Massachusetts General Hospital
• 1978-81 University of California at Irvine: Residency in Psychiatry

CERTIFICATIONS/LICENSES:

Dr. Nair is board certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties in Brain Injury Medicine, Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine. Additionally, he is board-certified in Pain Medicine, Psychopharmacology, and Behavioral Neurology / Neuropsychiatry. He currently holds medical licenses in California and Hawaii.

Dr. Pia Quimson-Guevarra is Board-Certified in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She has expertise in psychiatric issues in civil litigation, employment matters, and criminal cases. She also has additional and extensive experience with diagnosis and treatment of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and severe psychotic disorders both as a treating physician and as possible features in a medical-legal case as a forensic consultant. Psychiatric conditions can impact judgment, clarity of thought, and even criminal responsibility. In the case of psychotic disorders, symptoms may include hallucinations and delusions. She opines about medication or drug impact on behavior.

Dr. Pia Quimson-Guevarra has conducted over 20 competency assessments: competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations. She is a Certified Forensic Evaluator in Oregon.

Her work is divided between clinical and forensic/expert witness work. Dr. Quimson-Guevarra conducts medical and legal records review as a Forensic Psychiatrist, and medico-legal Independent Medical Evaluations by video and face-to-face, as appropriate. Her assessments are thorough and inform thoughtful and objective expert opinions issued by written report and testimony

Dr. Quimson-Guevarra has a clinical practice, Quimson Behavioral Health, providing psychiatric patient care, medication management, and psychotherapy, for patients who suffer from mental disorders such as Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, and PTSD. She is based in the greater Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area.

At Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Dr. Quimson-Guevarra worked on an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team, a method to deliver an intensive level of services to patients in the local community. Her patients consisted of individuals who suffer from severe and persistent mental illness. Her expertise in treatment of Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia is applied to patients with these medical conditions. At Cascadia, she also treated patients with a history that includes forensic medical-legal issues.

Previously, Dr. Quimson-Guevarra treated patients who suffered from anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders at Cedar Hills Hospital, Multnomah County Detention Center, Washington County Jail, Snake River Correctional Institute, and the Portland Veteran's Administration.

She continues to use her expertise in psychopharmacology to treat mental health conditions in the context of medically complex cases.

Dr. Quimson-Guevarra has served as a forensic consultant for the Washington County mental health court in Oregon. She also has worked in the forensic evaluation service department at the Oregon State Hospital where she performed competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations to patients at the Oregon State Hospital or defendants located in various jails.

Andrew D. Ewens, PhD, DABT is a Board-Certified Forensic Toxicology Expert. Dr. Ewens has 26 years of Biomedical experience having worked as a toxicologist government contractor for the CDC, EPA, NIH (National Cancer Institute, National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Toxicology Program). 

Dr. Ewens has 10 years of academic research experience and has been conducting Forensic Toxicology research since 2017. Research projects include false positive test from CBD oil, mouth alcohol, reliability of the Intoximeter EC/IR II evidentiary breathalyzer, developing objective measures of impairment to improve the SFST/DRE evaluations, and development of raman spectroscopy breath alcohol analyzer.

Litigation Support - Dr. Ewens has been an expert witness since 2015, Interpreting Drug Use, Impairment, and Drug-induced Death. He is qualified to testify in North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, and Michigan.

Cases include: 

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: