After about 17 years of medical practice in surgery and emergency medicine, I began a law practice concentrating on helping people injured by the medical system. From one small room, I have expanded my law office to now include five other people. We now represent people injured by medical providers, people injured by badge-heavy police officers, and people with brain injuries occurring in traffic accidents. In addition, I represent disabled people claiming government or private insurance benefits. And, with a focus on health care, I actively and aggressively pursue cases for "whistle-blowing" employees.
I am active in advocating for changes in national health policy, specifically in promoting national single-payer health care for all Americans and in protecting the right of people to seek accountability when injured by healthcare providers. I created and pushed through to passage a legislative measure that required the State of Utah to publish statistics comparing the cost and quality of health care providers. That has now been siezed upon by the Utah Legislature and expanded to include reports on the cost and quality of ALL providers, and I am actively working with the state committee charged with implementing that idea.
I sponsored a showing of the Michael Moore movie, Sicko, for all Utah legislators and many medical-industrial complex officials. Few of them came, but I took the movie to the Utah Legislature during the last legislative session. If the horses and asses won't come to the water, take the water to them.
I have been recognized by the Social Security Administration as a medical expert and have testified in thousands of hearings for the Social Security Administration in the Denver region (Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota & Wyoming). Having done that for several years, I have gained substantial experience which I put to work by representing Social Security Disability claimants in areas outside the Utah jurisdiction, particularly Las Vegas. I also perform independent medical exams of injured or disabled people for worker's compensation and personal injury lawyers.
Personal
Born January 14, 1950, Louisville, Ky. Attended elementary and high school in Kentucky, Florida, and Indiana. Residing in Utah since 1983.
Education
Attended Mackinac College, Mackinac Island, Michigan from 1967-69, then transferred to University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Undergraduate education in pre-medical subjects 1969 to 1973.
Attended University of Michigan School of Medicine, 1973-1977. Graduated MD 1977.
Resident in Surgery, Wayne State University, Detroit, 1977-1981.
Attended University of Utah School of Law, 1989-92. Graduated JD 1992.
Honors and Certifications
Honors in Emergency Medicine, General Surgery and Cardiology, University of Michigan School of Medicine.
Leary Scholar, University of Utah Law School, 1989-90.
Staff Member, University of Utah Law Review, 1991-92.
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine 1994
Board Certified, American Board of Independent Medical Examiners, 2003
Elected as a Fellow, American College of Emergency Physicians 1994
Member Utah State Bar and Utah Trial Lawyer’s Association since 1995
Admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office 1998
Employment
Staff Physician, Emergency Medicine Department, St. John’s Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, 1981-83.
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, 1983-85. Director of AirMed medical helicopter service.
Private medical practice and investment management, Park City, Utah, 1985-88.
Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Cottonwood and Altaview Hospitals, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1988 -1996 (60,000 annual visits combined). Shareholder, Wasatch Emergency Physician Corp, a 24 physician group 1992-1996.
Director of Cottonwood and Altaview Emergency Department quality assessment, serving on Cottonwood Medical Staff Bylaws Committee, Medical Staff Computer Design Committee and Medical Records Committee. Medical director, Ogden Clinic, Health Care Clinics of Utah, September 1999 – May 2000. A walk-in clinic serving the indigent population of Ogden.
Presently in private practice of law, concentrating in health-care related law.
Community Service
Founded and served as a member of the Utah Legislature’s Subcommittee on Effective Practice Patterns 1990 (developed the guidelines and initiated the legislation that established state-wide hospital data collection under auspices of the Health Services Data Committee of the Utah Dept. of Health)
Delegate, Utah Medical Association House of Delegates, 1989-93.
Adjunct Clinical Professor at University of Utah School of Medicine teaching a class in Law and Medicine, (which I designed and for which I compiled the text) 1991-1994
Publications and Presentations
Just Say No to Forced Arbitration, Salt Lake Tribune, Dec. 28, 2003, OpEd article (also appearing in the Ogden Standard Examiner)
Have You Heard the One About the Medical Malpractice Crisis, Utah Trial Lawyer’s Association Journal, Summer 2002
Preparing for the Defense Medical Examiner, slide presentation, Utah Trial Lawyer’s Annual Meeting, September 2001.
Decoding Doctor’s Documents, slide presentation, April 22, 2001, Utah Trial Lawyer’s Association Medieval Medical Malpractice, slide presentation to faculty of Stetson College of Law, Tampa, Florida, February 2002
Getting Started in Med Mal, slide presentation to lawyers and paralegals, April 22, 2001, Utah Trial Lawyer’s Association
The Institute of Medicine Report on Medical Errors, New England Journal of Medicine, 2000 Aug 31 (letter) Rationing Resources While Improving Quality, JAMA, 1995 Apr 5 (letter)
Effect of End Respiratory Pressure on Total Oxygen Dynamics, Surgery 1983 Oct (research article)
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approach to Colonic Bleeding, American Surgeon 1981 Mar (review article)
