“A TBI diagnosis requires a blow to the head.”

“A normal MRI means you don’t have a brain injury.”

“Spine injuries resolve in 6–12 weeks.”

Defense attorneys and IME doctors heavily rely on medical myths like these to support their cases and deny your clients full compensation. If you have ever encountered these bits of “common knowledge,” you also know how hard they are to debunk, particularly in cases involving brain and spinal injuries.

Join Dr. Oregon Hunter, medical doctor and experienced forensic medical consultant, for a powerful webinar that exposes the most pervasive myths in forensic medicine. Dr. Hunter will demonstrate how to successfully challenge the most common unscientific opinions in defense medical evaluations of patients with brain and spinal injuries. This presentation will cover:

• What to do when defense doctors begin with: “In my 30 years of experience...” 
• References from evidence-based medical journals that compellingly support many brain and spinal injury claims
• An accessible method for locating relevant medical research that can be used to challenge opinions that are not based upon science

Dr. Hunter will also address the following:

• TBI-Related Medical Myths:
  • A TBI diagnosis requires a blow to the head and/or loss of consciousness
  • TBI symptoms always begin immediately and will be diagnosed in the ER
  • A Glasgow Coma Scale rating of 15 means no TBI
  • TBIs will not cause dementia
  • TBI patients will recover without any long-term consequences from injury to the brain
  • Diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric abnormalities are not accepted to support a diagnosis of TBI
  • White matter hyperintensities are non specific findings and are not due to TBI
  • If an MRI reveals no brain lesions or brain bleeding, there is no TBI
• Spine Injury-Related Medical Myths:
  • Trauma from a motor vehicle accident cannot cause a disc protrusion
  • Disc pathology found on imaging studies is always pre-existing
  • Facet joint pathology is degenerative not traumatic
  • No acute changes revealed on spine imaging studies indicates no spinal injury
  • Radiculopathy requires nerve root compression
  • A spine injury is only a soft-tissue condition like a sprain or strain
  • Spine injuries resolve in 6–12 weeks

Arm yourself—and fortify your next brain or spinal injury case—with the knowledge of what to do when you encounter unscientific opinions from opposing counsel and IME doctors.

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