CLE Online

Welcome and Introduction

Robert C. Brun, QC — Harris & Brun, Vancouver
Paul T. McGivern — Pacific Medical Law, Vancouver

Are Prescribed Medicines Doing More Good Than Harm?

• polypharmacy is increasing in Canada; it affects many civil litigants
• how much do we know about how multiple drugs affect human beings?
• what societal and economic forces encourage this trend?
• can common sense principles be applied to ascertain when "enough is enough"?
• how can smart lay people apply common sense to clarify pharmacological issues in litigation?

Dr. Thomas L. Perry, FRCPC — Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of BC, Vancouver

Injured Patients With Pre-existing Conditions: Medical-Legal Implications

• arthritic joints that become “worse” after an accident
• the potential effect on a limb that has undergone prior surgery
                                                 
  Dr. Kostas Panagiotopoulos — Pacific Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, North Vancouver

Causation: Medical and Legal

• Clements, Resurfice, and recent jurisprudence
• “but for” causation, material contribution to risk or injury, policy and robust common sense
• implications in medical-legal contexts                                

Peter C. Collins — Harris & Brun, Vancouver

Networking Break

Medical Experts

• retaining your medical expert
• managing a medical expert’s reports
• the “new” Rules
• tactical considerations

Robert D. Gibbens — Laxton Gibbens + Company, Vancouver

Biomechanical Analysis and Injury Assessment

• how injury biomechanics fits into personal injury litigation
• when you need biomechanics and when you don’t
• the limitations of biomechanical analysis
• an example or two of biomechanics in action in personal injury cases

Dennis D. Chimich, MSc, PEng — Senior Biomechanical Engineer, MEA Forensic Engineers & Scientists, Vancouver

Lunch (on your own)

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: From High School Football to Car Crashes to IEDs in Afghanistan

• concussion in sports
• post-concussion syndrome
• mental health
• traumatic stress
• differential diagnosis

Dr. Grant L. Iverson — Director, Neuropsychology Outcome Assessment Laboratory, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of BC, Vancouver

Patterns of Injury

• MVA syndrome: how do pain, trauma, and depression become intertwined into a typical post MVA triad?
• where the treatment is worse than the disease—how are we treating these people and is it helping or exacerbating their difficulty?
• case examples: what are the legal implications for determining causation and prognosis?                     

Dr. Margaret D. Weiss — Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of BC, Vancouver

Somatization, Chronic Pain, and Conversion Disorder

• review interplay of psychological and physical factors following trauma
• address the overlap between chronic pain and concusssion
• describe forensic methodology in assessing litigants

Dr. Roy J. O’Shaughnessy — Forensic Psychiatry, University of BC, Vancouver

Networking Break

Medical–Legal Practice Panel

Joseph E. Murphy QC — Murphy Battista, Vancouver
Dr. Roy J. O’Shaughnessy — Forensic Psychiatry, University of BC, Vancouver
Dr. Margaret D. Weiss — Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of BC, Vancouver
Mary-Helen Wright — Pacific Law Group, Vancouver

Concluding Remarks