Examples of Unethical Medical Expert
Testimony and Junk Science

• Fen-phen litigation (“ The Fen-Phen Follies”, The American Lawyer, 3/1/05)
• An independent review of 120 echocardiograms diagnosed with heart damage by two cardiologists hired by plaintiffs’ attorneys in the fen-phen litigation found that only 6 percent actually showed heart problems.
• One of the doctors received an extra $1,500 for every positive reading.
• The other doctor’s sonographer was trained by an employee of the plaintiff’s attorney.
• Silicosis (“ A Break For The Defense”, BusinessWeek, 11/7/05)
• In 2005, U.S. District Court Judge Jack of the Southern District of Texas tossed out many silicosis claims as manufactured diagnoses. Of the 10,000 alleged silicosis victims in the multi-district litigation, 99 percent had been diagnosed by the same 9 doctors. One doctor had his secretary fill out patient diagnoses on blank forms, while another analyzed 1239 patients in 72 hours.
• Many of the alleged victims in the lawsuit had at one time been diagnosed with and filed claims for asbestosis.
• Asbestosis
• A recent study comparing x-ray analyses of asbestos-related lung damage revealed that while physicians hired by the plaintiff's lawyers reported that 95.9 percent of 492 chest x-rays had possible asbestos-related lung damage, unaffiliated doctors found that only 4.5 percent of them showed possible damage (“Comparison of ‘B’-Readers’ Interpretations of Chest Radiographs for Asbestos Related Changes, Academic Radiology, August 2004; "The Great Asbestos Deception," San Diego Union-Tribune, August 13, 2004).
• “Toxic” mold (“Dr. Mold” Forbes Magazine, 4/11/05)
• In California, Dr. Gary Ordog has appeared as an expert witness for $9,800 up front plus $975 an hour in (by his estimate) hundreds of lawsuits to testify that mold can cause a terrifying array of diseases, from lung cancer to cirrhosis of the liver. The American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine and the Federal Institute of Medicine say there's no evidence for such claims. The vice president of Ordog's own professional association, the American College of Medical Toxicology, agrees.
• Texas authorities are seeking to revoke Dr. Andrew Campbell's medical license, alleging a pattern of misdiagnosing patients with occupational or mold-related illnesses, overbilling and excessive testing .
• Welding rod litigation
• A plaintiff in the ongoing litigation against welding rod manufacturers was recently caught raking leaves and carrying groceries despite being diagnosed with disabling neurological injuries (“ Plaintiffs' Lawyers Come Under Fire For Claim Veracity” Wall Street Journal, 12/8/05).
• The plaintiff was diagnosed by Dr. Paul Nausieda, who has conducted mass screenings of welders and diagnosed the vast majority of all claimants in the welding rod litigation ( A Break For The Defense”, BusinessWeek, 11/7/05).
• Dr. Nausieda was criticized for testifying in another case that manganese toxicity from exposure to welding rod fumes causes Parkinson’s disease, although there is a lack of concrete evidence in the neurological scientific community that this is true (“ Medical expert testifies in weld rod trial” Madison County Record, 11/8/05)
• Seventy percent of the 4,500 welding cases before a Cleveland federal judge were “diagnosed” in mass screenings. Only 14 percent incurred medical expenses before suing and 40 percent have previously sued for asbestos or silica exposure (“ Plaintiffs in Welding-Fumes Case Win a Skirmish in Federal Court” Wall Street Journal, 7/26/05) and 40 percent have previously sued for asbestos or silica exposure (“ A Break For The Defense”, BusinessWeek, 11/7/05).
• Other examples of fraudulent testimony
• In a malpractice case against a fellow neurosurgeon, Dr. Robert Rand testified as an expert medical witness that a patient would have survived if the defendant had given him a steroid, although guidelines had been sent to all neurosurgeons warning that the steroid was potentially lethal. Dr. Rand later admitted that he “never read that stuff” about current scientific thinking. (“ Doctor wants fellow doctor suspended over malpractice”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer,6/7/04).
• Dr. Donald Austin was suspended by his medical society for malpractice testimony against a fellow neurosurgeon, which fell outside mainstream neuroscience. Following the suspension, Dr. Austin’s annual income fell from $220,000 to $77,000, which suggests that 65 percent of his income came from serving as a “medical expert” in litigation (“ Professional Oversight of Expert Testimony” Case in Health Law-American Medical Association- Online: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/14859.html).
  

Background
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) was formed in the fall of 1993 as a California corporation to combat the current bureaucracy that perpetuates the state's costly avalanche of lawsuits. This grassroots organization was formed in response to a civil justice system that encourages both people to sue and lawyers to take advantage of victims. Our leadership is a group of small business and professional people from the greater Orange County area who are all united in our passion for meaningful reform of an out-of-control civil litigation system. We believe that tort reform has not been adequately addressed by our lawmakers because of the influence of special interest groups on the legislative process. We feel the public must become engaged in the debate over legal reform before California can solve it's lawsuit crisis.

Mission Statement
CALA's mission is to educate the public about the impact of lawsuit abuse on consumers and California's economy, thereby creating a climate for change.

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