Trials of an Expert Witness [Paperback]

Harold L. Klawans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 1998

This collection of 19 provocatively titled stories presents dramatic encounters in what Klawans calls the arena of adversarial law, the battlefield of winning and losing. Each depicts a patient as a victim of an improper diagnosis or treatment: a pregnant woman's dehydration is mistreated with excessive glucose, which locks her into a permanent coma; a 62-year-old woman is convinced by a neurosurgeon that immediate surgery is the only means of avoiding a stroke, then suffers one as the result of the surgery; a meek, family-oriented, overworked attorney is charged with killing a young girl, apparently in his sleep. In each of the cases he presents, Klawans illustrates that asking the right questions is as critical in the practice of medicine as it is in the practice of law.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chicago-area neurologist Klawans ( Toscanini's Fumble ) is not unwilling to blow the whistle on incompetent colleagues in the medical profession, but he is equally ready to rush to the defense of a doctor accused of malpractice on dubious grounds. Often called upon to testify as an expert witness in neurological cases, here he takes a piercing look at some of them--instances of misdiagnoses, of failure to consider diagnoses that led to complications, of drug companies charged with suppressing information and of hospitals that in effect killed patients. He also offers observations on the cases of Jack Ruby and Ezra Pound, in which he was not involved. Klawan's clipped, minimalist writing style strengthens the book's inherent appeal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This casebook of a prominent Chicago neurology professor will no doubt be compared to Oliver Sacks's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Summit Bks., 1987). Like Sacks, Klawans presents a series of extremely interesting neurological cases, but these deal solely with the law, drawn from his experiences as an expert witness in malpractice cases. Having testified both for the defense and the prosecution, Klawans offers a birds-eye view of the relationship between medicine and the law--two very different worlds that often misunderstand each other. He discusses how doctors can make misdiagnoses and how malpractice suits are prosecuted. Klawans also explains the role of the expert witness and the reason neurology is often considered the most "intellectual" of the medical specialties. Very highly recommended. See also Elizabeth Loftus and Katherine Ketcham's Witness for the Defense, below.--Ed.
- Debra Berlanstein, Towson State Univ., Baltimore
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 277 pages
• Publisher: Demos Health; 1 edition (June 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888799196
• ISBN-13: 978-1888799194
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,057,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting stories of medical malpractice trial cases., May 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Trials of an Expert Witness (Paperback)

If anyone is interested in reading about a physician(neurologist) who has learned the ropes of the court system and whoentertains the reader with forensic medical tales, this is the book to read and savor. Although Dr. Klawans is a frequent medical expert witness for both sides of the versus, he does not hesitate to use the term "hired gun" for impartial medical experts and minces no words in describing the shortcomings of the tort system. In case after case, Dr. Klawans describes how the system works as he plays the role of expert for both plaintiffs and defendants in medical malpractice cases. I recommend this book particularly for physicians who need a distraction from the present travails of corporate socialized medicine (managed care). It will also help them get through the ropes of the court system, if and when he or she is summoned to participate in courtroom proceedings and chances are, he or she will!

Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and author of Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Malpractice Suits, December 19, 2004

By 

Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trials of an Expert Witness: Tales of Clinical Neurology and the Law (Hardcover)

Dr. Klawans protected the patients and lawyers in these cases by keeping them anonymous in this very readable book. There is no index. Chapter 1 tells how he became an expert witness when treating a patient as a neurologist. Chapter 2 tells of a sad case on iatrogenic water intoxication. Most malpractice cases involve average doctors who made a mistake (p.38). Chapter 3 tells why you have to ask the right questions to get the right answers. Chapter 4 discusses the EEGs of Jack Ruby. The importance of winning for an expert witness is in Chapter 5. One of the most important chapters is on carotid stenosis in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 explains the importance or reading labels on laundry products and following their instructions. "Therapeutic Misadventure" is explained in Chapter 8; did Dr. Parks refer Mrs. Schwartz to Dr. Cooper by mistake? Sleep drunkenness is explained in Chapter 9, and its consequences (pp.136-137).

Chapter 10 tells of a woman who had difficulty falling, she said. The rare third-nerve injury is explained in Chapter 11, and the difference between fiction and a scientific article. Chapter 12 tells of the Trial of Dan White, who shot the San Francisco mayor and another politician. The trial record has been impounded! Chapter 13 explains tardive dyskinesia, an iatrogenic disease caused by long-term exposure to drugs used to treat schizophrenia. No treatment may mean years of psychosis. If you want to know the reason for malpractice suits, read Chapter 13. It has both the good and the bad. Chapter 14 examines the "insanity" of Ezra Pound. Dr. Klawans does not appreciate the reactionary politics of that era. If a woman uses birth control pills, smoking increases the chances of having a stroke. This can create aphasia (Chapter 15).

Chapter 16 explains the disease dystonia. Dr. Klawans explained how hysteria could be mistake for this disease when the patient could gain from this disease. Could somebody escape from the police by checking into a hospital room as an AIDS patient (p.245)? The dangers of lead poisoning for children are documented in Chapter 17. Drugs, as well as premature birth, can affect a child's brain permanently. The dangers of smoking too much too long are described in Chapter 18. This is one cause of emphysema. This leads to a buildup of blood CO2 levels. But the real cause of death was human error (p.271)! The last chapter tells of a woman who had an accident in a federal office building, and began to feel tired and sleepy a lot (a common sigh of depression). The clothes worn by Dr. Klawans swayed the federal judge! Is this a warning against an inquisitorial system where the judge is also the jury?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic MD's eye view of medicolegal issues, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trials of an Expert Witness (Paperback)

As a newly-trained neurologist, I was fascinated by these tales of neurology and the law, from both plaintiff's and defense's viewpoint. Though the stories are dated, the general principles are all too true, and teach physician and patient alike why lawsuits occur.