Rich Ben A
University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California, USA.
Pain Med. 2006 Sep-Oct;7(5):460-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2006.00215_2.x.
The objective of this analysis is to apprise pain physicians of the ethical concerns and practical considerations that arise when a treating physician is called upon to testify as an expert witness in a legal proceeding involving his or her own patient. The provision of expert testimony in medico-legal proceedings has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years. When a physician testifies as an expert witness, such testimony is considered to be the practice of medicine, and hence subject to the same ethical and professional obligations as patient care. Increasingly, medical professional organizations have promulgated guidelines for such activities, and even implemented oversight mechanisms to review complaints concerning expert testimony by their members. Additional issues are raised when the expert witness is also the treating physician for the patient who is a party to the legal proceeding in which the expert testimony is offered.
While it is not categorically unethical or inadvisable for a physician to testify as an expert witness in a medico-legal proceeding involving his or her own patient, such activity raises special issues and concerns. Prospective expert witnesses in such situations should be cognizant of these issues and insure that they have been adequately addressed before and during the testimony.
本分析的目的是让疼痛科医生了解，当治疗医生被要求在涉及自己患者的法律诉讼中作为专家证人出庭作证时出现的伦理问题和实际考量。近年来，在法医学诉讼中提供专家证言受到了更严格的审查。当医生作为专家证人作证时，此类证言被视为医疗行为，因此与患者护理一样，要遵守相同的伦理和职业义务。越来越多的医学专业组织已经颁布了此类活动的指导方针，甚至实施了监督机制，以审查有关其成员专家证言的投诉。当专家证人也是法律诉讼一方（即提供专家证言所涉案件）患者的治疗医生时，会引发其他问题。
虽然医生在涉及自己患者的法医学诉讼中作为专家证人作证并非绝对不道德或不可取，但此类活动会引发特殊问题和担忧。处于这种情况的潜在专家证人应意识到这些问题，并确保在作证前和作证期间这些问题已得到充分解决。
