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   PROFESSION   
      
   Mississippi board approves expert witness regulations    
      
   Physicians who give false testimony could lose their medical licenses.   
      
   By Damon Adams -- Posted June 19, 2006   
      
      
   Mississippi's medical board has adopted standards to regulate physicians who   
   testify as expert witnesses, the latest step in a trend by states and medical   
   organizations to make doctors more accountable for what they say as medical   
   experts in courtrooms.   
      
   Violators who have Mississippi medical licenses could lose their licenses or   
   pay up to $10,000 for the board to investigate them. Doctors from other states   
   who give false testimony in Mississippi could be prohibited by court   
   injunction from giving    
   further testimony or have their state boards notified.   
      
   "All these regulations do is require the medical expert to follow the law and   
   be honest and be ethical," said Philip Merideth, MD, a lawyer and vice   
   president of Mississippi's Board of Medical Licensure. "This is about   
   protecting the public. This is not    
   about going after plaintiffs' experts."   
      
   In recent years, medical societies and other organizations have pushed for   
   greater scrutiny of physicians who provide expert witness testimony. American   
   Medical Association policy states that testimony a physician gives as an   
   expert witness is considered    
   the practice of medicine.   
      
   The Association encourages state medical societies to work with licensing   
   boards to develop effective disciplinary measures for physicians who provide   
   fraudulent testimony.   
      
   "We believe [providing expert testimony] is the practice of medicine, and it   
   follows that there should be supervision by state medical boards," said Cecil   
   B. Wilson, MD, new chair of the AMA's Board of Trustees.   
      
   The AMA is not alone. A resolution passed by the Federation of State Medical   
   Boards in May 2004 states that fraudulent testimony from medical experts   
   should be considered unprofessional conduct by medical boards.   
      
   An FSMB guide was modified to state that false, fraudulent or deceptive expert   
   witness testimony by a physician should constitute unprofessional conduct. The   
   guide is used to help states adopt new medical practice acts or amend existing   
   laws.   
      
   The federation is not sure how many state boards have regulations on physician   
   expert witnesses. But FSMB officials said many states spell out expert   
   qualifications, particularly for medical malpractice cases.   
      
   A minority of medical boards consider expert testimony to be the practice of   
   medicine and thus under their jurisdiction for evaluation and discipline,   
   according to an article in the Number 3, 2004, Journal of Medical Licensure   
   and Discipline, an FSMB    
   publication. Few doctors have been disciplined for unethical testimony, the   
   article said.   
      
   One case that brought national attention involved Florida neurosurgeon Gary   
   Lustgarten, MD, who gave testimony as a medical expert in a North Carolina   
   malpractice suit.   
      
   One of the doctors in the suit filed a complaint against Dr. Lustgarten. The   
   North Carolina Medical Board initially found Dr. Lustgarten had engaged in   
   unprofessional conduct by misstating facts and the appropriate standard of   
   care. The board revoked his    
   North Carolina license in 2002, but the doctor appealed. A judge reversed most   
   of the board's grounds for discipline, but agreed with one finding and sent   
   that issue back to the board. In November 2003, the board suspended Dr.   
   Lustgarten's license for    
   one year, but the doctor fought the suspension in court. This month, Dr.   
   Lustgarten won a court victory when the North Carolina Court of Appeals   
   reversed a lower court order that had affirmed the board's discipline.   
      
   Miss. docs face fees, license actions   
   Dr. Merideth of Mississippi's medical board said no one case prompted his   
   board to adopt new regulations. He said the board was moved to act due to a   
   lack of regulation of medical expert activities by physicians.   
      
   The regulations, adopted May 18 and effective July 1, state that physician   
   medical experts must comply with medical ethics principles, including the   
   AMA's. Expert witnesses cannot make or use any false, fraudulent or forged   
   statement or document. They    
   also cannot accept a payment that is contingent on a diagnosis or opinion or   
   outcome of the case.   
      
   Among the disciplinary actions the medical board can take are suspending or   
   revoking the doctor's Mississippi license, or assessing up to $10,000 for   
   costs of the board to investigate a Mississippi-licensed physician.   
      
   Jackson, Miss., attorney George Yoder said the regulations would discourage   
   physicians from testifying in liability cases. He said he would have a harder   
   time finding doctors to serve as expert witnesses.   
      
   "I don't know that the board has expressed a clear motive in why they're doing   
   this," Yoder said. "I think the big reason for this is to cut down on medical   
   malpractice lawsuits."   
      
   Dr. Merideth disagreed. "The board has no interest in having a chilling effect   
   on medical experts. This is about policing physician conduct."   
      
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   ADDITIONAL INFORMATION   
      
   The whole truth   
   Under new regulations effective July 1, the Mississippi State Board of Medical   
   Licensure will be able to discipline physicians who give false medical expert   
   witness testimony. The board may take action:   
      
   Against physicians with a Mississippi license   
   Deny, suspend, restrict or revoke the license.   
   Charge up to $10,000 of the reasonable costs the board spends investigating   
   the physician.   
   Against out-of-state physicians with no Mississippi license   
   Move for a court injunction to stop the physician from offering further   
   medical expert opinion in Mississippi.   
   Refer the matter to another state's medical licensure authority for action.   
   Source: Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure   
      
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   Copyright (c) 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.   
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