At its October 2024 meeting, the ACS Board of Regents approved a revised Statement on the Physician Acting as an Expert Witness. An initial statement was released in 2000 and revised in 2011.
At present, in the world of medicolegal affairs, expert witnesses—whether serving the cause of the defendant or the plaintiff—play an essential role. This led the Board of Governors, Physician Competency and Health Workgroup to charge a committed and experienced group of Fellows to revisit the American College of Surgeons (ACS) statement. The re-examination of the ACS statement was necessary to reflect not only the changes in the law since the last revision but also the new medical and social expectations of today.
The group examined the literature and found that various organizations had made statements about the issue. They also consulted with legal experts to make sure their reasoning was sound. Two surgeons with long and distinguished careers in academic medicine directed the group. They were both trained in the widespread and important specialty of surgery but also have a broad medical education and know well how to evaluate evidence: Stanley W. Ashley, MD, FACS, the Frank Sawyer Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and William Doscher, MD, FACS, associate professor of surgery at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, New York.
Dr. Ashley said, "We learned from each other and made big revisions and additions to the existing document through a process of informed consensus." He continued, "The revised statement should provide the needed framework and guidelines for our Fellows who choose to play the important role of expert witness."
Qualifications for Experts
The familiar core elements of the 2024 revised statement were not changed substantially. However, the familiar core elements of the 2024 revised statement underwent a profound transformation. The revisions moved the elements of the statement into a much stronger and more affirmative place.
The revised statement addresses the issue of licensure by making clear that the physician expert witness "must" have a "current, valid, and unrestricted state license to practice medicine" at the time of the alleged occurrence. The earlier versions of the statement said that the witness "should" have a license. In addition, the statement now specifies that the witness must be a diplomate of a specialty board relevant to the subject matter of the case and has been updated to align with ACS membership qualifications.
Accredited hospital privileges at the time of the procedure are required, along with familiarity with standards of care, and physician documentation that includes how often the physician serves as a witness.
Behavioral Guidelines
The conduct guidelines keep the responsibility for doctor experts to be fair, honest, and above all, impartial. "Physician experts should use their expertise and experience in an evenhanded, ethical manner when testifying in any case," says the AANS.
The clarified statement, however, gives more information about not acting as a coach in a courtroom setting. Witnesses, defendants, and plaintiffs should not expect their lawyers to be life coaches. In fact, "should only be provide facts and information and be a neutral educator that helps juries understand technical aspects of cases" is a much better way to try to live that courtroom role.
The physician expert acting in accord with ACS values is what this material is primarily about. Yet the content also encompasses noteworthy new features: information about the ACS Central Judiciary Committee and a link to the ACS Expert Witness Affirmation. The College accepts complaints about expert witness testimony that may be in violation of its guidelines and qualifications, which could also constitute a violation of one or more of its Bylaws and lead to disciplinary action.
Those in the fellowship program are urged to evaluate the entire revised statement. Besides this, the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS) will publish an article that provides additional details and context regarding the revisions. This article will also include helpful hints for those serving as expert witnesses in matters related to surgery.
The updated Statement on the Physician Serving as an Expert Witness and other statements from the ACS can be found at the Statements section of the ACS website.
https://www.facs.org/about-acs/statements/
https://witnessdirectory.com/categorysearch.php?country=USA
