Expert Information
Currently engaged in clinical practice: Yes
Degree: M.D.
Specialty / Subspecialty:
- Orthopaedic Surgery - Surgery of the Hand
Area of Expertise: Orthopedic Surgery, Hand Surgery, Wrist Surgery, Elbow Surgery
Year of Medical Training Completion: 2021
City of Practice: Teaneck
State of Practice: New Jersey
Previous Experience As Expert Witness: Yes
Type of Practice: Non-Academic
- Deposition(s) Given For the Defendant: 1
- Deposition(s) Given For the Plaintiff: 1
- Testified in a Trial For the Defendent:
- Testified in a Trial For the Plaintiff: 1
Available to Review Cases: Yes, for either the defendant or the plaintiff
Available to Be Deposed: Yes, for either the defendant or the plaintiff
Available to Testify In Trial: Yes, for either the defendant or the plaintiff
Training and Additional Credentials
Medical School: -
Year of Completion: -
Residency: -
Year of Completion: -
Fellowship: -
Year of Completion: -
Academic / Leadership Information
Highest Academic/Leadership Position Achieved: -
Current Academic Affiliation: -
Distinguishing Achievements
Awards: -
Number of Publications on PubMed: -
Professional Organizations: -
Fee Schedule
Medical Record Review:
Review of Medical Records, Review of Additional Materials, additional office consultation
- $750
- $3500
Independent Medical Examination:
Independent Medical Examination with written report
- Per Hour: $750
Deposition in office:
Deposition: Discovery/Evidence
- First two hours: $1500
- For each Additional hour or any portion thereof: $750
- Retainer (due 14 days prior to scheduled disposition): -
- Cancellation fee (less than 7 days notice): -
Trial (InState):
- Initial day: $9500
- Cancellation fee (less than 72 hours notice): $8500
- For each additional day: $9999
- Cancellation fee (less than 72 hours notice): $9000
- Retainer (due 14 days prior to scheduled trial): $9999
Trial (Out of State):
- Initial day: $9999
- Cancellation fee (less than 72 hours notice): $9000
- For each additional day: $9999
- Cancellation fee (less than 72 hours notice): $9999
- Retainer (due 14 days prior to scheduled trial): $9999
Case Responses
Reduction of fracture to PIP joint (Case #164)
- Medical Probability: 4 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: To fully understand this case, one must understand the PIP joint - and unfortunately, few doctors do. It is vital for hand function, but prone to injury and stiffness. Most PIP dislocations are stable...
- Causation Probability: 4 / 10
- Causation Summary: I do not think there is enough here, at least from the description provided, or causation. First of all, the dates are incorrect. I believe the first date should be AUGUST 6 rather than September, oth...
- Expert Summary: I am a fellowship-trained hand and orthopedic surgeon who trained with nationally-recognized experts in not just hand surgery but the PIP joint specifically, and helped write textbook chapters on this...
- Similar Summary: In part, very frequently. PIP dorsal fracture-dislocations reduced in the emergency department, I probably see a few per month. Ones that presented in a delayed fashion, I see less frequently, bu...
No informed consent for microfracture? (Case #174)
- Medical Probability: 5 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Not enough information, would need to review the doctor's office notes as well as the MRI report. However, there are many different potential remedying procedures that could need to be done during a k...
- Causation Probability: 3 / 10
- Causation Summary: There is no evidence of injury. Treatment has been performed and there was no direct complication reported. The recovery time of procedures varies. The patient may have had a similar recovery period w...
- Expert Summary: I am a practicing orthopedic surgeon and have reviewed cases as an expert witness for state attorney general office
- Similar Summary: Thankfully it is not frequent to have a patient claim that a procedure was performed without their consent. However, as far as arthroscopy procedures are concerned, I encounter those quite regularly.
Hip replacement and medical clearence (Case #242)
- Medical Probability: 7 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: When obtaining preoperative clearance, the surgeon and the surgery center are relying heavily on the primary care doctor to certify that the patient is optimized for surgery. Considering the volume of...
- Causation Probability: 7 / 10
- Causation Summary: The medical clearance was insufficient, and knowledge and correction of the potassium deficiency could have prevented this problem. It is not certain, however, since the v-fib was only "potentially" r...
- Expert Summary: I am an orthopedic surgeon who regularly performs elective bone and joint procedures, and routinely confers with medical doctors to obtain preoperative medical clearance for patients who need it.
- Similar Summary: Thankfully very rarely. I do perform elective cases all the time, but this particular situation is very uncommon.
Severed ureter during anterior diskectomy and interbody fusion (Case #295)
- Medical Probability: 5 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: This is a known possible complication of a complex exposure and orthopedic procedure. The exposure and the instrumentation do put these structures at risk and this is routinely discussed with patients...
- Causation Probability: 5 / 10
- Causation Summary: It is difficult if not impossible to say in this case with the information before us. If we knee the exact location of the ureteral injury, that might go a long way toward determining the stage at whi...
- Expert Summary: I have reviewed several cases similar in some respects to this one, and have personally scrubbed many of these cases. I also have been present for the abdominal exposure portion of these procedures, w...
- Similar Summary: Infrequently regarding complications of anterior and posterior spine surgery, approximately once per annum
Possible lunate injury from chondroplasty - caused CRPS? (Case #298)
- Medical Probability: 7 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: There is a large portion of both the Lunate and the distal radius that are missing. These may have been resected with the shaver. However it is crucial to note that there are no pre surgery xray films...
- Causation Probability: 7 / 10
- Causation Summary: Again, without all the details it is difficult to say with certainty, but it seems likely given what we are given here. It should be noted, however, that this patient was at high preoperative risk for...
- Expert Summary: I am a fellowship trained hand and wrist surgeon, a board certified orthopedic surgeon with subspecialty certification in the hand and wrist, and I have 5 years of experience dealing with complex wris...
- Similar Summary: I perform wrist arthroscopy with regularity, and see referrals for CRPS on a monthly, if not weekly, basis.
Orthopedic surgeon (upper extremity specialist) failure to perform proper physical assessment or MRI (Case #300)
- Medical Probability: 3 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: It is not the standard of care to order an MRI at the preliminary assessment for shoulder pain that began without trauma (fall fron height, motor vehicle accident, etc). XR and physical examination ar...
- Causation Probability: 2 / 10
- Causation Summary: The patient probably had a high grade partial tear or weakening of the distal biceps tendon that would have ruptured regardless of what the surgeon did or did not do, if it indeed ruptured during a ph...
- Expert Summary: I am a board certified orthopedic surgeon with fellowship training in upper extremity surgery. I have performed expert witness review for the state Attorney General office.
- Similar Summary: Approximately once or twice per month, regarding each the shoulder and the elbow injuries.
- Medical Probability: 7 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The operative report unfortunately reads like a comedy of errors. Cuts are made erroneously and need to be revised. Medial malleolus insufficiency is encountered intraoperatively as if it were a surpr...
- Causation Probability: 7 / 10
- Causation Summary: There is likely causation here. The poor technique may also have led to a nerve injury, a common and sometimes preventable complication of ankle arthroplasty. This would explain the patients severe na...
- Expert Summary: I am a board certified orthopedic surgeon and I have experience doing expert witness consulting for both the plaintiff and defense sides.
- Similar Summary: Neuropathic pain is a frequent consult in my practice. I also occasionally see iatrogenic injuries and post operative complications from arthroplasty.
Partial left hand amputation post IV extravasation (Case #324)
- Medical Probability: 7 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: This is a complex case of a patient with known upper extremity venous thrombosis and a severe abdominal medical condition requiring colostomy and administration of parenteral nutrition. One of the kno...
- Causation Probability: 7 / 10
- Causation Summary: Ischemic injury and reperfusion injury are the two most likely phenomena leading to this patient's amputation. It is possible that even with swift treatment she may have ended up with an amputation. H...
- Expert Summary: I am a fellowship-trained hand and upper extremity surgeon with years of experience covering level one trauma centers and performing and evaluating patients for extravasation, compartment syndrome, an...
- Similar Summary: These are not common cases. I see extravasation cases about once per month, compartment syndrome from extravasation about once per quarter, and amputation from compartment syndrome cases about once an...
- Medical Probability: 2 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The patient is a 60 year old female with a prior history of TFCC injury of the left wrist. TFCC injuries are typically treated initially with conservative management such as bracing, medication, injec...
- Causation Probability: 2 / 10
- Causation Summary: The patient fell in October 2022 and had a surgery in April 2022 for a chronic condition (ulnar positive variance and TFCC pathology). There is nothing in these notes that suggests that a more rapid t...
- Expert Summary: I am a fellowship-trained orthopedic hand surgeon with extensive experience with wrist arthroscopy and TFCC repairs and debridement. I have co-authored book chapters and scholarly articles on this sub...
- Similar Summary: TFCC injuries and chronic ulnar sided wrist pain approximately 1-2 times per week, wrist arthroscopy approximately 1-2 times per month.
- Medical Probability: 4 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The patient was evaluated by the surgeon on 8/10 and available notation that visit suggests the patient was making expected progress without significant sign of complications. Vital signs were not tak...
- Causation Probability: 3 / 10
- Causation Summary: The patient seems to have had a serious prosthetic joint infection in a multiply-revised knee - and patient is a diabetic - this is a known possible outcome and complication. While earlier identificat...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who has performed hundreds of total joint arthroplasty and revision cases.
- Similar Summary: Thankfully, not very commonly. However, I have reviewed several similar cases in the past as an independent expert.
61yo F Left Total Hip, has severe pain and possible delay diagnosis nerve injury and leg length discrepancy. (Case #385)
- Medical Probability: 6 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: It's difficult to tell with such limited and subjective information, frankly, but it does seem as though there were issues in terms of timeliness of recognition of the complication, and technically of...
- Causation Probability: 6 / 10
- Causation Summary: Again, difficult to tell for certain, but there was a prominent screw likely causing psoas symptoms. The delay in time to diagnosis of the gluteal rupture could also have caused further injury and det...
- Expert Summary: I am a board certified orthopedic surgeon with experience in total hip and revision hip arthroplasty.
- Similar Summary: Not that frequently, but complications like this are not all that rare.
55yo Male missed/delayed Lisfranc Dx in R foot leading to multiple complications. (Case #387)
- Medical Probability: 8 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The patient's injury was noted by the on call orthopedic surgeon initially as positive for widening of the 1st/2nd intermetatarsal space. This is a red flag warning sign for a Lisfranc injury. The inj...
- Causation Probability: 8 / 10
- Causation Summary: The medical error led to an unfortunate spiral where the patient was treated with early weightbearing, which is contrary to what should be done for a Lisfranc injury. Then, as the injury was not recog...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with experience treating Lisfranc injuries
- Similar Summary: Delayed diagnosis of ligamentous injury, on a nearly weekly basis
- Medical Probability: 4 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: It's very difficult to say anything of substance regarding sizing of the implant, given that we don't have the ability to personally view the images. It sounds as though there may have been an infecti...
- Causation Probability: 4 / 10
- Causation Summary: See above, it is not easy to say based on the limited information available.
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and I've done hundreds of quality review cases including for total ankle arthroplasty
- Similar Summary: Not that frequently, to be perfectly honest.
62yo F Total R Hip Arthoplasty, immediate pain/foot drop symptoms. Poss delay in treatment. (Case #401)
- Medical Probability: 5 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Sciatic nerve injury is a known possible complication of total hip arthroplasty. Standard precautions to prevent sciatic nerve injury in total hip arthroplasty includes careful placement of posterior ...
- Causation Probability: 5 / 10
- Causation Summary: As there is not established error, causation can similarly not be determined,
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who routinely performed hip replacements, especially utilizing the posterior approach.
- Similar Summary: On average, once to several times per year, with varying degrees of severity, and sometimes as a second opinion.
Too large Femoral Component for Total Knee Arthroplasty (Case #402)
- Medical Probability: 8 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Failure to resurface the patella is not necessarily itself malpractice, as there are some surgeons who often do not do so. However, in combination with a likely-oversized component, it is a recipe for...
- Causation Probability: 8 / 10
- Causation Summary: The other opinions seem to agree that the component is oversized. Oversizing with anterior overhang is a common cause of continued anterior knee pain and dysfunction following TKA.
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who has done hundreds of total knee replacements and have offered medicolegal opinions in similar cases.
- Similar Summary: Not very frequently, thankfully. But every now and then I do see inappropriately-sized components, with subsequent symptoms, as a second opinion.
59yo male has foot surgery, has subsequent Achilles rupture (Case #413)
- Medical Probability: 5 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The patient underwent a Strayer (gastrocnemius recession) procedure which is a lengthening of the gastrocsoleus muscle tendon unit. This procedure is typically performed proximally, near the musculot...
- Causation Probability: 5 / 10
- Causation Summary: The second operative note, which describes an FHL transfer to treat the chronic Achilles tendon rupture, does not specify exactly where the rupture happened. If the Achilles rupture happened more pro...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon with several years of experience doing expert witness review and testifying for both plaintiffs and defendants.
- Similar Summary: In my clinical practice, analogous situations are not encountered very frequently, on the order of 1 every few months or so, often as second opinions. In expert witness work, however, cases such as th...
56yo F has trigger release on multiple fingers, complications lead to partial amputation. (Case #418)
- Medical Probability: 8 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The surgeon's operative note details that 30 cc of lidocaine with epinephrine was administered in a WALANT technique. This works out to 10 cc per digit released, which is a much higher dose than would...
- Causation Probability: 8 / 10
- Causation Summary: As described above, there was likely to be medical error, and if present, the medical error directly resulted in injury i.e. ischemia and amputation. It is also important to consider the injury of sti...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified fellowship-trained hand surgeon, who regularly performs WALANT cases with local anesthesia with epinephrine.
- Similar Summary: I have thankfully not seen a similar case of digit ischemia in my practice. However, I perform trigger finger releases with lidocaine with epinephrine on a very regular basis, as WALANT is my predomin...
- Medical Probability: 2 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: This patient clearly had very severe Dupuytren's Disease. Dupuytren's is a disease with a nearly 100% recurrence rate following surgical treatment. It always eventually returns, because surgery treats...
- Causation Probability: 2 / 10
- Causation Summary: Given that there is very unlikely to be medical error, there is equally unlikely to be causation.
- Expert Summary: I am a fellowship-trained hand subspecialist who regularly sees Dupuytren Disease in my office setting. I counsel patients on a daily basis regarding this problem and we have thorough discussions rega...
- Similar Summary: At least once a month I see patients who are less than thrilled with the long-term results of their prior Dupuytren treatments, whether from myself or as a second opinion. It is exceedingly common and...
Failure to timely diagnose Hip Dysplasia in infant resulting in need for surgical intervention. (Case #438)
- Medical Probability: 10 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The correct diagnostic test was ordered and the diagnostic information was missed, and therefore not relayed to the patient's parent in a timely manner. Incorrectly reading a diagnostic report fro...
- Causation Probability: 9 / 10
- Causation Summary: A Pavlik harness can be used to treat developmental hip dysplasia in many cases avoiding the need for invasive surgery. This would have been able to be initiated earlier in the child's life had the co...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with experience doing medicolegal work for both plaintiff and defense sides.
- Similar Summary: This would be uncommon to encounter in my clinical practice.
- Medical Probability: 8 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: The Emergency Department physician documents an exam which is concerning for active compartment syndrome. This is a surgical emergency. The on-call orthopedic surgeon should either have evaluated the ...
- Causation Probability: 9 / 10
- Causation Summary: The patient would likely have had a mediocre outcome at best, regardless, as this is a severe injury, but the outcome was likely worsened by the delayed treatment of compartment syndrome. It will be ...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with experience encompassing working at Level 1 trauma centers for multiple years and caring for acute compartment syndrome cases.
- Similar Summary: I see acute compartment syndrome and complications from it at least several times per year.
Nicked lung during Kyphoplasty procedure. (Case #449)
- Medical Probability: 8 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Percutaneous kyphoplasty is a technically-demanding procedure that is fluoroscopy-reliant. Practitioners can risk pleural injury with insertion of a needle too deep and/or lateral, which appears to ha...
- Causation Probability: 8 / 10
- Causation Summary: The medical error would have been the immediate proximate cause for the injury in this case - the needle being inserted improperly punctured the pleural lining and created an unintentional thoracotomy...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with experience chart reviewing thousands of cases.
- Similar Summary: Not this exact case, but I have seen, as a second opinion typically, results of improperly-inserted guidewires, or cannulas, or drills, at least once per month.
Pediatric orthopedic surgeons cause paralysis in 12 year old boy during spinal fusion procedure. (Case #468)
- Medical Probability: 5 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Unable to determine, as there is very little medical information available, unfortunately. Would need radiographic imaging, intraoperative notes, and more, in order to have at least an idea of what i...
- Causation Probability: 5 / 10
- Causation Summary: Unable to determine, as there is very little medical information available, unfortunately. Would need radiographic imaging, intraoperative notes, and more, in order to have at least an idea of what i...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, diplomate of the ABOS, and have significant experience reviewing med mal Orthopedic Surgery cases.
- Similar Summary: Thankfully, it is infrequent. This is an unfortunate outcome.
- Medical Probability: 6 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: It is unclear from this limited account what the presenting signs and symptoms were in August, and what Dr. X. actually did. If the sole presenting issue was polyethylene wear, then performing a poly ...
- Causation Probability: 6 / 10
- Causation Summary: There is not enough detail to go on here to establish this with any certainty. But it does seem as though the surgeon was dismissive of the patient's complaints.
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, a diplomate of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, and I have reviewed many cases involving revision surgery and infections of implanted prosthetics.
- Similar Summary: Thankfully not that commonly, however it would be on the order of approximately 1 or 2 per year.
Ultrasound guided carpal tunnel surgery (Case #492)
- Medical Probability: 9 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Transection of the median nerve is a catastrophic complication of carpal tunnel release. The consequences are magnified when the injury is not immediately recognized. The standard of care was most lik...
- Causation Probability: 9 / 10
- Causation Summary: The median nerve transection is almost always a direct consequence of improper positioning of the knife, inadequate visualization, inadequate anatomical familiarity, or any combination of those factor...
- Expert Summary: I am a Board-Certified, fellowship-trained hand surgeon with experience reviewing cases of carpal tunnel complications. I am the Clinical Director of Hand Surgery in an area medical center. Carpal tun...
- Similar Summary: Thankfully, a complication of this magnitude is uncommon. However, I have encountered nerve transection cases as a second opinion surgeon approximately once per year.
- Medical Probability: 7 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Based on the available evidence, this appears to be a severe but recognized complication of total hip arthroplasty without clear evidence of medical error. Sciatic and even combined sciatic–femoral ...
- Causation Probability: 6 / 10
- Causation Summary: The surgery almost certainly caused the nerve injury in a medical sense, but that alone does not establish malpractice. Causation in the legal sense would require evidence of a specific deviation from...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with years of experience reviewing medicolegal cases.
- Similar Summary: I see patients with peripheral nerve injuries as a consequence of surgery somewhere on the order of once per month.
- Medical Probability: 10 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: Retention of a surgical foreign body (drain tubing) after a total knee arthroplasty and subsequent revision is widely recognized as a preventable event and generally considered a “never event.” It...
- Causation Probability: 10 / 10
- Causation Summary: The retained drain fragment directly necessitated a third surgical procedure for removal, as confirmed by imaging. This resulted in additional anesthesia exposure, operative risk, pain, recovery time,...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon. I have served as an expert witness in multiple cases with experience in review, deposition, and in-court testimony work, for both plainti...
- Similar Summary: Thankfully I do not encounter retained foreign object cases frequently in my practice. However, this is the type of case I might be referred occasionally as a second opinion.
- Medical Probability: 8 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: There are features in this case suggesting error in judgment and technique. While partial wrist fusion is not strictly contraindicated in smokers, it carries an elevated risk of nonunion and fixation ...
- Causation Probability: 7 / 10
- Causation Summary: Causation is reasonably supported, though not in an absolute sense based on the limited data set available. The pattern and timing of failure, with construct collapse within two weeks, followed by int...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified, fellowship-trained hand and upper extremity orthopedic surgeon with CAQ in Hand Surgery. I have served as the Clinical Director of Hand Surgery in my hospital for over two year...
- Similar Summary: Thankfully not very often in my primary practice, although I have seen a fair number of second opinions with nonunion or partial nonunion.
Tibia Closed Reduction Intramedullary rod nail fixation, Plafund Fixation of nondisplaced fracture. (Case #568)
- Medical Probability: 7 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: A 21 degree external rotation deformity is outside of the scope of a standard error and acceptable alignment. This is a large degree of malrotation that was likely produced at the time of surgery by m...
- Causation Probability: 7 / 10
- Causation Summary: It appears likely that there was causation, as the complication of symptomatic malrotation was likely attributable to a direct medical error. There is also the issue of the possible ignored compartmen...
- Expert Summary: I am a double board-certified orthopedic surgeon with extensive experience in Level One trauma settings where tibia fractures are treated routinely.
- Similar Summary: Malunion cases approximately once per month
- Medical Probability: 6 / 10
- Medical Error Summary: This is a gray area case, and the devil will be in the details. There does not appear to be much in the way or preoperative workup or nonsurgical treatment - the surgeon saw the patient once in Octobe...
- Causation Probability: 6 / 10
- Causation Summary: It's difficult to determine causation in a case such as this as we lack important details such as timing, imaging, and the onset of these nerve symptoms. Nerve symptoms should not be directly related ...
- Expert Summary: I am a board-certified, fellowship-trained hand and upper extremity orthopedic surgeon with CAQ in Hand Surgery. I have served as the Clinical Director of Hand Surgery in my hospital for over two year...
- Similar Summary: Something akin to this exact perfect storm is uncommon. However post-operative complications occur and are encountered by every upper extremity surgeon.
