Insurers fighting injury claims hire doctors slammed for shoddy work as key medical experts – CBC

Medical experts say the opinions they provide are not influenced by who hires them

Nov 18, 2024

Doctors called out for being biased, faulty or careless expert witnesses in court are being hired by insurance companies looking to deny injury claims for people hurt in car crashes.

Jonathan Graul, from Fergus, Ont., says he found himself under attack in court by two doctors hired by insurance giant Aviva after suffering a traumatic brain injury during a December 2017 crash.

Unable to work and facing mounting bills, he says, Graul took on the other driver and his insurance company — Aviva — in court for compensation.

“It was dirty,” Graul told Go Public. “It was just a personal attack the whole time.”

Medical experts have a duty to help the court by offering independent, objective and unbiased evidence in cases where opposing sides often clash on what the facts are.

Despite that, doctors and other health professionals who are called out for shoddy testimony face no consequences and there’s nothing stopping them from appearing in court again, according to accident victim advocate Rhona DesRoches.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/insurance-medical-legal-experts-injury-1.7382872