Soft Tissue Index: Essential Medical & Crash Studies for Trial Counsel and Forensic Witnesses / Deposition and Trial Questions: Vehicle Injury Litigation
Book Review by Stephen Savoie, DC
Steven Savoie, DC, DABCO
Title:
Soft Tissue Index: Essential Medical & Crash Studies for Trial Counsel and Forensic Witnesses / Deposition and Trial Questions: Vehicle Injury Litigation
Editors:
Charles G. Davis, DC; edited by David N. Finley, Esq. / Lawrence Nordhoff, DC, QME, ACTAR, and Elliott B. Oppenheim, MD, JD, LLM Health Law
Publisher:
Litigation One Publishing
Purpose:
Doctor and lawyer education
Price:
$99.95 each / $179 for both
Part #:
T-238 / T-239
The Soft Tissue Index: Essential Medical & Crash Studies for Trial Counsel and Forensic Witnesses is a three-ring, loose-leaf binder that includes a comprehensive amount of material. This book contains more than 900 summarized medical studies relating to soft tissue injury and whiplash trauma. It is divided into chapters covering such topics as injury mechanism and causation, crash-study comparisons, common symptoms, whiplash diagnosis and prognosis, and defense guidelines, to name just a few. Specific journal references are listed in each chapter, and many of the references are summarized, providing the reader with sufficient information to decide whether obtaining the full text of the article is necessary. Each chapter also includes commentary by the author, putting the information into the proper context for use in a litigation situation. This makes the book very user-friendly and an excellent reference for both doctors and lawyers engaged in soft tissue cases. The book is indexed to allow quick reference to any topic desired.
The author has done an excellent job in providing information (both pro and con) regarding the documentation, diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries. As practicing chiropractors know, caring for soft tissue injury victims is the easy part; documenting that care, and defending it in the medical legal arena, is the hard part. We all know that research has been done and published regarding many aspects of soft tissue injury diagnosis in care; having ready access to that information is the problem. This book places much of that information in one easily accessible source. There is also a companion CD that includes a full-text version of the book in Word, WordPerfect, Mac and PDF formats. This allows the doctor or lawyer to take this book with them for review on any computer.
I highly recommend this book to both doctors and lawyers working in this area.
Dr. Savoie's rating:
9.5out of10
The second book, Deposition and Trial Questions; Vehicle Injury Litigation, is also a loose-leaf binder, compiled by two experts in the area of vehicle injury litigation. There are over 5,000 sample questions regarding the examination of medical doctors, chiropractors, and other related witnesses in vehicle injury cases. The book is divided into four chapters - Preparing a Witness for Examination, Deposition Questions, Trial Examination Questions, and Questions by Injury Type - plus an appendix. It is obvious that the authors have substantial experience in the area of vehicle injury trials and depositions. The questions are very detailed and cover all of the various aspects of credentialing a witness; the entire patient intake examination; and treatment process. What makes this book most useful is the authors commentary and practice tips - in short, instructions on how to answer (and sometimes more importantly, how not to answer) questions posed in the courtroom. All aspects of patient examination, including laboratory and diagnostic imaging, are covered.
Any doctor preparing for deposition or trial would do well to review the questions included in this book. For example, the fourth chapter covers the various types of injuries one might encounter, including not only the questions that will be asked, but in most cases, a list of the definitions of terms commonly related to injuries in that part of the body. Of course, these definitions are short and to the point, as any response to a question in the legal setting should be. As with the first book, Deposition and Trial Questions; Vehicle Injury Litigation comes with a companion CD that includes a full-text version of the book in Word, WordPerfect, Mac and PDF formats.
Having been involved in the care of vehicle injury patients and the corresponding litigation process, I found this book to be a wonderful resource, and one I will definitely use in future cases.
Dr. Savoie's rating:
10out of10
To order a copy of this product, call MPA Provider Services at (800) 359-2289.
If you have authored, published or produced a book, audio or video package that is chiropractic-oriented, educational, nonpromo-tional and written or produced in a professional manner, and would like it reviewed in Dynamic Chiropractic, please send two copies of the product to:
Review Editor Dynamic Chiropractic P.O. Box 4109 Huntington Beach, California 92605-4109
Because they have yet to pass national legislation protecting the chiropractic profession, Japanese DCs are in a similar situation that U.S. DCs faced. We were fortunate enough to be able to pass chiropractic licensure state by state. The DCs in Japan must accomplish this nationally, which has proved to be an extremely difficult task. And in spite of their efforts, Japanese DCs are currently faced with two chiropractic professions.
This article focuses on nine severe injuries that are generally not diagnosable until the third to fourth week following the date of injury, including how to diagnose these severe injuries. The discovery of any of these injuries early can make a significant difference in the case outcome.
There has long been an attempt by those who are not legitimate doctors of chiropractic to usurp the title of chiropractor from those who have earned their degree from an accredited chiropractic program. This generally happens in countries where the local doctors of chiropractic have yet to pass legislation requiring a degree from an accredited institution. The result is essentially two chiropractic professions. Nowhere is this danger more pronounced than in Japan.
