The expert witness in malpractice suits.

This survey of 1,097 Fellows resulted in usable data from 336 surgeons, of whom 129 had claims (n = 212) against them from January 1, 1984, through December 31, 1989. Risk by specialty varied greatly, but population of practice area seemed unimportant. Plaintiff expert witnesses could be identified by 28 surgeons; four of these were from medical school faculties. Defense expert witnesses were identified by 37 surgeons, 18 of whom were from university faculties. We were unable to identify any repeat "itinerant" plaintiffs' expert witnesses from this five-year period in Tennessee. It seems obvious that surgeons, even those who have been sued, pay little attention to even the identification of opposing expert witnesses.