Defence

In order to succeed, a claim for medical negligence must prove that the practitioner involved had a duty of care to their patient, this duty was breached and that the breach resulted in harm to…

In most medical negligence claims, the patient’s medical record is the most important source of evidence and will come under close scrutiny. While the claimant has visible injuries that can be shown to a court,…

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects millions of people each year across the world. Historically, pain has always been viewed as a purely biological process and psychological and social factors were considered irrelevant.…

Pain is defined as chronic when it lasts for more than three months. At this point, it stops being just a symptom and becomes a condition in its own right, although it is also associated…

An accurate and reliable assessment of the patient’s condition is crucial in achieving a fair outcome in medicolegal cases involving chronic pain. While assessment of acute pain is relatively straightforward, measurement of chronic pain, and…

Pain is the body’s warning system: it tells us that we have sustained an injury and need to heal. In most people, pain is a transient phenomenon, lasting only until the healing process is complete.…

Until recently, evidence in medicolegal cases was collected from physical sources, such as patients’ medical histories, witness statements and expert witnesses. Technological advances mean that other sources of evidence, including social media, CCTV monitoring and…

This thought leadership series focuses on what to look for in a good medico legal report.  We explore the importance of finding the right expert, the value a well written medico legal report can add…

The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) describes pain as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage’(1). Although the association…

In medicolegal cases, it is rare for the legal teams involved to have sufficient specialist knowledge to make a judgement on the medical issues raised by a case. Therefore, they rely on medical experts to…