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Thursday, October 21, 2004The American College of Radiology has suspended one of its fellows -- a former associate professor of radiology at the University of California, Los Angeles -- for providing what the ACR says was clinically inaccurate testimony as an expert witness against another radiologist. ....Hance testified that a 'double dose' of contrast agent administered to the patient led to the renal failure. The plaintiff dropped the case during trial in 2003, prior to any verdict. In an interview with AuntMinnie.com, Zuckerman said Hance had no medical literature to back up his 'cumulative toxicity' claim for the plaintiff. 'This is basically just a theory he made up,' Zuckerman said. The ACR Ethics Committee received Zuckerman's complaint in February, and referred it to an independent third party for review, according to Hoffman. In correspondence he sent to the committee, Hance maintained that his testimony was based on his own experience with contrast agents. But based on the third-party report and its own review of the evidence, the Ethics Committee decided at an August hearing 'that Dr. Hance's testimony was not clinically accurate,' Hoffman said. The ACR Code of Ethics states that, 'In providing expert medical testimony, members should exercise extreme caution to ensure that the testimony provided is nonpartisan, scientifically correct, and clinically accurate.' In the last year, the ACR has received 13 ethics complaints related to expert testimony, including six complaints in just the last two months. Hoffman credited the increasing pace to the publicizing of ACR actions in other cases. Since it began hearing complaints regarding expert testimony by ACR members two years ago, the Ethics Committee has completed reviews of five cases. The complaints have resulted in one expulsion of a member, one censure, two findings of no ethical violation, and the latest involving the suspension of Hance. " posted by Sydney on 10/21/2004 08:43:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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