THE EYES OF THE TSA ARE UPON YOU

One of the benefits of favorable tort reform in Texas has been the decrease in frivolous medical litigation with the attendant proliferation of travelling, or local expert witnesses providing testimony in those cases. As you may recall, TSA was one of the leaders in the nation in establishing guidelines for review of such expert witness testimony. See the TSA Expert Witness Guidelines:

The TSA Peer Review Committee wishes to remind members that there is an avenue to address uninformed or possibly misleading testimony of an expert witness who is a member of the TSA. A complaint may be lodged by a TSA member or any member of the public against a TSA member expert witness called by any party to the proceeding, regardless whether the judgment is for or against a defendant anesthesiologist.

Cases will be considered only after a civil or criminal judicial proceeding has been concluded by settlement or final judgment and not subject to further appeal. If the Peer Review Committee opinion is unanimous that a TSA member’s testimony does not comply with the established guidelines, the complainant and respondent will be notified and the complaint forwarded to the Judicial Committee for further review.

For concerns related to visiting anesthesiologist experts from other states, the ASA would be the appropriate national resource

(http://www.asahq.org/for-members/office-of-general-counsel/expert-witness-testimony-reviewprogram.aspx).

Your humble members of the TSA Peer Review Committee are Drs. Scott Kercheville (San Antonio, Chair), Evan Pivalizza (Houston) and Jacky Ralston (Houston).