Physicians should be expert witnesses.

Physicians have a responsibility to society, their peers, and patients to participate in malpractice litigation in a manner that ensures that medical malpractice cases are properly evaluated. Physicians are reluctant to involve themselves as expert witnesses in medical malpractice litigation because of not wanting to further any malpractice suits, mistrust of attorneys and misconceptions about expert witnesses and the legal system in general. The expert witness should be an impartial practicing physician who can select those suits that should or should not be filed and identify which parties were negligent in each case. If impartial physicians do not evaluate cases for attorneys, other more partisan and less objective physicians will.