Insurers fighting injury claims hire doctors slammed for shoddy work as key medical experts
CBC
Doctors called out for being biased, faulty or careless expert witnesses in court are being hired by insurance companies looking to deny injury claims for people hurt in car crashes.
Jonathan Graul, from Fergus, Ont., says he found himself under attack in court by two doctors hired by insurance giant Aviva after suffering a traumatic brain injury during a December 2017 crash.
Unable to work and facing mounting bills, he says, Graul took on the other driver and his insurance company — Aviva — in court for compensation.
"It was dirty," Graul told Go Public. "It was just a personal attack the whole time."
Medical experts have a duty to help the court by offering independent, objective and unbiased evidence in cases where opposing sides often clash on what the facts are.
Despite that, doctors and other health professionals who are called out for shoddy testimony face no consequences and there's nothing stopping them from appearing in court again, according to accident victim advocate Rhona DesRoches.
"Everything hinges on these medical reports," said DesRoches, who heads the not-for-profit FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform, which is made up of motor vehicle accident victims struggling with the auto insurance system in Ontario.
"I think it's important that the public knows," she said. "The quality of the medical evidence that is used in courts is a big concern ... I mean, they make a lot of money doing this, and they really ought to be sure about what they're saying."
Graul was hit head-on while driving on the highway by a driver who was in the wrong lane. His car ended up in a ditch and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, with burns on his hands and face.
After the accident, his wife described him as a "shell," according to a court document.
"Headache, confusion. To this day ... my ears are ringing incessantly, and it's 24-7," Graul said.
"I've had a lot of issues with my vision, and it's unnerving ... I have memory issues ... my wife is checking on me, you know, just to make sure I'm not slipping up too badly."
When Graul sued for compensation, he says he knew the medical evidence was on his side because more than a dozen health professionals supported his various claims.
Yet one of the medical experts hired by Aviva, Dr. Lawrence Freedman, told the court Graul's traumatic brain injury didn't exist.
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