It’s a separate case for sure- but fascinating. On my medical malpractice case I saw the expert witnesses up close for the first time. I have friends and acquaintances– retired docs- who do expert witness work and it always sounded like such a boondoggle. Show up in court, have someone read your CV to the jury, answer a few questions, answer a few more. Step down and cash your paycheck.
Boy was I wrong. Each of the docs in this case had essentially done their own differential diagnosis, gone through twenty years worth of medical records, evaluated every prescription that was prescribed gone over every MRI and Xray. Then mapped out the course of the plaintiff’s disease against various models of what could have/should have happened. Summarized the findings and compared what the patient experienced to what is currently considered the standard of care.
And then answered zillions of questions from the other side. It was like treating a problematic and non-compliant patient for many years…. except the patient was suing a colleague for NOT curing them when they DIDN’T follow the prescribed protocol.
Tough work for sure.