Family Medicine Expert Witnesses: 9

The Physician Assistant Experts Network™ is a referral resource for attorneys seeking expert medical opinions on the standard of care provided by physician assistants and advanced nurse practitioners. The PA Experts Network™ was founded by Jeffrey G. Nicholson, PA-C, Ph.D., M.Ed., MPAS, an experienced medical-legal consultant and a leader in the physician assistant profession. He will either help you personally or facilitate a physician assistant expert from his network of board certified Physician Assistant Experts in all medical specialties. See his article on this website. Practicing 30 years, a PA Educator, Assistant Professor, and Director of the University of Wisconsin Physician Assistant Program.

Services Include:

• Medical Records Review, Deposition, Testimony, Referrals of PAs, NPs, Midwives, CRNAs, and allied health PT, EMT etc.

Education and Certifications:

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, 2008
• Master of Education, M.Ed., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1989
• Masters Degree in Physician Assistant Studies, University of Nebraska Click here for Website to see complete resume and photo.

MRK Medical Consultants provides Medical-Legal Evaluations to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client's situations. MRK provides a wide array of medical experts that offer objective review and analysis of personal injuries. Each stage of the process—research to review, analysis to opinion—is addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client’s situations. MRK's prestigious list of more than forty consultants are active clinicians and surgeons, who are all board-certified or eligible in one or more specialties. MRK provides physician experts to the entire State of California, the Reno/Lake Tahoe area, and Las Vegas, and we travel to many areas of the United States. Physical therapy, registered nurses, physician assistant, and billing review consultants are available services MRK provides. Our office physicians are available for telephone review of the merits of your case before you decide to proceed.  

Edward W. Younger, III, M.D., Medical Director of MRK Medical Consultants, specializes in Orthopedic Surgery. He has extensive experience in total joint replacement, as well as reconstructive surgery of the knee, hip, and shoulder. He was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to his hospital. He served on the orthopedic trauma staff at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California, for more than fifteen years and was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to that institution. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Society and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and the California Orthopedic Association.

Dr. Michael R. Klein, Jr., M.D., specializes in Orthopedic Surgery and is a founding member and the first Medical Director of Northern California Orthopedic Centers. He was involved with the development of the orthopedic section of the Level II Trauma Center at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. He served as a clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center for more than thirty years. He has been a member of the North American Spine Society since 2009 and was awarded the David O. Selby Award in 2020 for his contributions. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and a member of the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association. He retired from the USAF in 1998 after being on active duty during the Vietnam War, and he was activated for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. 

MRK's Areas of Expertise:

William Santoro, MD is board certified in Addiction Medicine and board eligible in Family Medicine. He is the Chief of the Section of Addiction Medicine at Tower Health and was the Medical Director at the Reading Hospital & Medical Center detoxification/rehabilitation program. Dr. Santoro was also the Medical Director at a Methadone Treatment center  for 22 years, until 2021, where he is responsible for prescribing methadone to approximately 950 opiate dependent patients.

Dr. Santoro is the Addictionist on staff at The Reading Hospital & Medical Center within the Department of Family and Community Medicine. He is consulted by hospitalists to care for patients admitted to the hospital with addiction complicating their condition. Dr. Santoro runs an outpatient program treating over the 300 patients with buprenorphine (Suboxone/Sublocade) or Vivitrol maintenance. With an interest in Sports Medicine in 2001, he served as a volunteer physician for the U.S. Olympic Training Team in Lake Placid, New York.

Dr. Santoro has been deposed more than a dozen times in the past several years. He has testified in court numerous times on behalf of the plaintiff as well as for the defense. He has testified in Federal Court and been involved in cases concerning the pharmaceutical industry.

Areas of Expertise:

• All aspects of Addiction Medicine
• Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
  • Buprenorphine
  • Naltrexone
  • Methadone
• Dual Diagnosis Pain/Addiction

View Dr. Santoro's Consulting Profile.

Joel L. Kent, MD, is an expert in all realms of Pain Medicine and has focused expertise in the prescribing and oversight of opioid analgesics. His specialties include acute and chronic pain management, opioid analgesics, interventional pain management therapies, spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal drug delivery, RSD/CRPS and low back pain.

Dr. Kent has provided expert case reviews and testimony for over twenty years.  The majority of his expert work has focused on the standard of care in the practice of Pain Medicine and the use of opioid analgesics.  Dr. Kent has provided expert case opinions in Federal and State civil courts.  He has provided defense support to the US Department of Justice in two cases.  He has served as an expert witness and case reviewer for both Maryland and New York State.  Dr. Kent assisted the District Attorney of New Jersey in prosecuting a case of unlawful prescribing of controlled substances.  He has provided expert case review and litigation support to health insurance carriers seeking restitution for fraudulent expenses related to opioid therapy.  

Over the course of his career, Dr. Kent has developed particular expertise surrounding the use of opioid analgesics.  He has provided over 50 lectures to other physicians regarding the safe and proper use of these medications.   He has been recognized as an expert in both State and Federal Court in cases related to opioid therapy.  He has served on advisory boards helping craft regulatory policies related to opioid medication.  All these accomplishments attest to Dr. Kent’s high level of expertise in the complex and evolving realm of opioid therapy. 

Primary area of expertise: Pain Medicine

Expert consulting experience:

• Authored over 50 expert case reports
• Participated in over 25 depositions
• Testimony experience in civil trials and professional hearings
• Provides litigation support and expert testimony in plaintiff and defense cases

Professional experience:

• Over 25 years of experience in Pain Medicine
• Triple Board Certified
• Practice Director of University Multi-Disciplinary Pain Management Practices from 1998 to 2017
• Program Director of a Multi-Disciplinary Pain Management Fellowship Training Programs from 1998 to 2015
• Professor of Anesthesiology, Palliative Care, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Rochester School of Medicine
• Lectures extensively and published 

Elliot D. Felman, MD, is Board Certified in Family Practice. In practice for more than 32 years. Experienced in both plaintiff and defense review, deposition and testimony for evaluation of medical malpractice. Available for evaluation of Standard of Care for Family Practice, General Practice and Internal Medicine. Clinical Faculty - UCLA School of Medicine.  Expert Reviewer - State Medical Board of California.

Areas of Expertise:

Elite Medical Experts is a physician-led team that hand selects nationally recognized Professors of Medicine and Surgery as expert witnesses. Each expert is a board-certified specialist with a busy clinical practice and impeccable credentials.  From Stanford to Yale, and from every healthcare specialty and field, Elite aligns leading specialists from top-tier medical universities.

Actionable benefits to our clients:

     ♦  Zero-Risk Guarantee:  Approve the expert or we'll refund the fee.

     ♦  Avoid costly mistakes with real-time access to our physician-led Strategy Team.

     ♦  No subscriptions - we earn trust one case at a time.

     ♦  Work directly with hand-selected university experts screened for your specific case.

     ♦  No database or advertised experts - we plan for discovery and transparency at every stage.

Please call [877] 670-8625 to speak directly with our in-house Case Strategy Team. There's no charge for phone or video consultation consultation and we'll outline a a strategic plan for moving forward.

Dr. Burton Bentley II, M.D., FAAEM
CEO, Elite Medical Experts

Areas of Expertise:

View Medical Legal Consultants' Business Consultation Profile.

Alan R. Smith, MD, RPh, FAAFP, is Board Certified as a Family Medicine Physician (American Board of Family Medicine) plus Board Certified by the American Board of Physicians and Surgeons. Along with a full-time, full-spectrum Family Medicine Practice, Dr. Smith is the Medical Director of Millard Care and Rehabilitation, a position he has held for over 30 years. 

Dr. Smith also serves the State of Utah as Chairman of the Utah Physician Licensing Board (2018 - Currently), and is a Fellow of the Federation of State Medical Boards. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Smith is retained as an Expert Witness with a focus on Family Medicine and Nursing Home Medical Malpractice. He has over 20 years of expert witness experience with approximately 100 cases reviewed, 25 depositions, and 10 court / arbitration testimonies. 

"I feel a responsibility to hold my fellow physicians, as well as myself, to the standard of care. I likewise feel a responsibility to stand and defend the truth when care of a physician is in question." - Alan R. Smith, MD

Areas of Expertise:

Lori S. Corley MD, FAAP, is Board Certified in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Also certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), she provides comprehensive medical care for infants, children, and adolescents, acting as their primary care physician. 

Employment Experience

• Consultant / Expert Witness for Medical Malpractice cases - Case list available on request (2004-present)
• Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Georgia Health Sciences University /Medical College of Georgia (2002-present)
• Adjunct Professor, MSN Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program, Kennesaw State University (2001-present)

Dr. Corley provides litigation support services to attorneys representing Plaintiff and Defense. She is available to review medical records, give depositions, and trial testimony for cases that include issues of causation, quality control, and standard of care. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Pediatric Medicine - General infections and illnesses (fevers, sore throats, ear infections, etc.) and minor injuries, as well as some diseases (septic shock), emotional stressors in children that may lead to psychiatric or mental health complications, including developmental and anxiety disorders, behavioral problems and functional complications
• Adolescent Medicine - Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), substance abuse, obesity, eating disorders, mental illnesses (ADHD), acne, pregnancy, birth control programs, menstrual disorders, problems with puberty, among many other conditions and disorders

LIST OF PHYSICIANS REVIEWED BY DR. RICK CHAVEZ AS AN INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT (OVER 155 CASES.) CAN SEND A LIST OF CASES COMPLETED, DEPOSITIONS, TESTIMONY IN FEDERAL AND STATE COURT.

LIST INCLUDES INDEPENDENT LAWYERS REGARDING PLAINTIFFS AND DEFENDENTS, MEDICAL BOARD REPORTS, U.S. ATTORNIES, USDOJ, DEA, EXPERTISE IN:

PAIN MANAGEMENT, PAIN INTERVENTIONS, DISCOGRAMS, EPIDURALS, INTRATHECAL PUMPS, OPIOID TREATMENT, ADDICTION MANAGEMENT, ACCIDENTAL OVERDOSE DEFENSE AND LAWSUITS