What Constitutes GBI? {Assault/Trauma}
I am often called to testify in assault cases in which great bodily injury is an enhancement. In these cases I try to determine the severity of the injury based off of the medical records…
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Burns: Complications
We have reviewed medical records from clients with burn injuries that have more than twenty diagnoses documented. This is because of the numerous complications associated with severe burns. The skin is the largest organ of…
Burns: Long Term Treatment
The client with severe burns will be hospitalized for weeks or months. Burn wounds often require painful dressing changes, surgery and grafting. Preservation of function and prevention of complications are the priorities of care. A…
Burns: Initial Treatment
It is important to obtain and review medical records from the ambulance crew and emergency department in burn cases. The first responders will obtain information about the details of the fire, injuries and medical history.…
Case Study: Burn Injuries
Mr. John Smith, age 40 sustained multiple injuries when he jumped from the second story of a burning house. He was treated at the scene by emergency medical services and transported to the emergency department…
Legal implications of nasal fractures
Our medical expert recently got retained in a criminal case where the victim suffered an injury to her nose. She had a reported history of previous nasal trauma but was diagnosed with a nasal fracture…
Nasal Fractures: What does the literature say?
Legal Aspects in Nasal Fractures Rhinology, 1991 ABSTRACT A criminal act is involved in a high percentage of cases of nasal fracture, and exact medical information describing the damages found is mandatory for the criminal…
Does the patient in your case have a nasal fracture?
According to Dr. Greg Gilbert, from Stanford University Medical Center, x-rays of the nose serve no purpose in diagnosing nasal fractures: “A nasal fracture is a clinical diagnosis and not one that should be made…
What is a nasal fracture, really?
Nasal fractures are the most common facial fracture and the third most common fracture of any bone in the body. They most frequently occur as a result of assault or motor vehicle collisions. What we…
Traumatic Injuries: GBI/SBI
In regards to Great Bodily Injury or Significant Bodily injury: Many wounds from blunt force trauma by themselves would not qualify as permanently disabling or disfiguring. The severity of the wound oftentimes is not as…
Patterned Injuries from Trauma
Patterned Injuries: These are injuries in which the physical characteristics of the wound match the object that cause them. They can be present in all types of injuries: This month’s…
Abrasions & Lacerations
An Abrasion is a scrape from friction between the skin and another surface. The surface does not necessarily need to be hard, but the softer it is, the more friction is needed. An example of…
