Surgery: Cardio Thoracic Surgery Expert Witnesses: 5

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:

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Dr. Thomas J. Berger was board certified in 1981 as a cardiac surgeon by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and has been involved, as an expert, in over 300 medical malpractice cases. Most of this experience has been since 1998, when his firm, Heart of the Matter Expertise, began to gain recognition, within the legal community, as the premier expert witness service for cases involving cardiac surgery and cardio-thoracic disease.

Areas of Expertise:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Cardiology
• Surgery - General
• Thoracic Surgery

Mission Statement

To see that the truth about every case, in which an associate of Heart of the Matter Expertise becomes involved, is uncovered and understood, whether this means assuring justice for a poorly treated patient or protecting the precious reputation of an unfairly accused physician.

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:

Dr. Andreas Plackis is an award-winning, triple board-certified Anesthesiologist and Cardiac Anesthesiologist. He is Vanderbilt residency and cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship trained, and in full-time clinical practice with hands-on patient care and supervision of CRNAs and SRNAs.

Dr. Plackis provides care for the highest acuity patients practicing at the only heart transplant center in Arkansas. One of a select few Arkansas anesthesiologists providing TEE imaging guidance for structural heart interventions.

Litigation Support - Dr. Plackis will assist either plaintiff or defense attorneys in establishing standard of care compliance and identifying breaches in anesthesiology medical malpractice cases. His services include written reports, deposition testimony, and trial testimony as needed. He is highly responsive to phone calls and emails. Two-week or less turnaround time for initial case opinion.

Areas of Expertise:

Dr. Plackis is an experienced and articulate public speaker and presenter with multiple publications and local/national presentations. He has exemplary knowledge base as achieved a Top 1-3 percentile ranking nationally compared to peers in nearly all ABA licensing and training examinations. Diplomat of the ABA and NBE.

Dr. James Strader, Jr., MD, FACC is a full-time practicing General Invasive Cardiologist, experienced in all areas of cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Strader is board certified in Cardiovascular Disease and Nuclear Cardiology. He is currently the Chief of Cardiology at The Medical Center of Plano, TX. Dr. Strader possesses Expert knowledge of Cardio Vascular Imaging and Therpeutic Procedures, including cath lab, TEE, echocardiography, stress testing, and arrhythma testing. He also has special expertise in Aeromedical Cardiology and Return-To-Flight-Status Decisions.

A published author in his field of expertise, Dr. Strader has given Presentation and Lectures both nationally and internationally. His most recent awards include "Cardiologist of the Year” from The Medical Center of Plano in 2011 and the Max R. Ungar Award from the USAF Society of Flight Surgeons in 2008. Dr. Strader is an experienced Expert Witness with numerous case reviews, depositions, and ongoing cases. He is available to assist external peer review agencies and both Plaintiff and Defense in malpractice actions. Areas of Expertise Include:

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