February 28, 2020

Trial Tips 2 February, 2020

Dr. David H. Delman is the Chief Executive of DHD MEDICAL, P.C., a medical practice with two locations in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan. We frequently see his reports for plaintiffs on personal injury cases. If you google his name you will find him on a site called "injured-call today"  injuredcalltoday.com Tim Jones from our office obtained a defense verdict on a Bronx case (Padilla v. Nkumah  20645/13) where Dr. Delman was the plaintiff's expert witness. On cross-examination, Dr. Delman was questioned on the discrepancies between the history, diagnosis, and treatment plan in the hospital record and the records of his own facility. He was also questioned extensively about his lack of knowledge of the treatment the plaintiff underwent from other physicians. His opinion on the issue of causation was undermined by his lack of familiarity with the plaintiff's treatment and his compensation for his time in Court. Some highlight's from the cross-examination are below and the transcript is attached. The exchange with Dr. Delman is worthy of review. Q. Now the plaintiff's referred to you by his attorneys. Correct?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. When Mr. Padilla went to see you in May of 2019, who paid for that visit?A. Say it again?
Q. Who paid for it? Q. Who paid for the visit?
A. I was paid as part of the preparation for trial.
Q The attorney paid. Correct?A. Correct.
Q. And you hold no board certifications in the field of medicine for which you were treating the plaintiff, that being physical medicine and rehabilitation. Correct?A. Correct.
Q. And notwithstanding the fact that you're not a Board Certified radiologist and you only reviewed the films last week, you, nevertheless, gave an opinion on causality in your January 2015 report. Correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. That's a yes. Correct?
A. Yes.
Q.  And you gave that opinion stating that the accident has a direct causal relationship to the patient's injuries.
A. Correct
Q. Without having reviewed the films. Correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. And you're aware, doctor, that radiologists, Board Certified radiologists, are trained to determine whether the film shows evidence of trauma or whether the film shows evidence of degeneration? Are you aware of that?
A? Yes.

Read the transcript here.

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