Capacity Assessments Expert Witnesses

Fort Collins, Colorado

Family Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Care - Hospice Medicine, End-of-life decision making, Goals of care documentation, Capacity assessments, Medical ethics, Palliative care, Functional decline, DNR/DNI decisions, Geriatrics, Terminal agitation and sedation, Medical decision-making capacity, Goals of care, Standard of care in terminal illness

I am a board-certified family physician and practicing hospice medical director with over 15 years of clinical experience in outpatient care and end-of-life settings. I maintain an active clinical practice and hold an unrestricted medical license. I provide expert medical opinions on standard of care, causation, and medical decision-making capacity in hospice and palliative care settings, as well as primary care. I work directly with attorneys representing plaintiffs or defendants in cases involving: • Delayed or missed hospice or palliative care referrals • Inappropriate or premature withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments during end-of-life transitions • Failure to assess or document decision-making capacity • Poor interdisciplinary communication within hospice and palliative teams • Missed diagnoses or delayed treatment in primary care • System-level care coordination failures in hospice or palliative care transitions My reviews address both individual clinician conduct and b...

Gainesville, Georgia

Hospice and Palliative Care, Geriatrics - Hospice Fraud, Terminality, Medical Necessity, Capacity Assessments, Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Standards of Care, Palliative Medicine, Geriatrics, Medicare Compliance, False Claims Act, Informed Consent, Patient Autonomy, Goals of Care, Surrogate Decision-making, Dementia, Terminal Prognosis, Advance Directives

As a board-certified physician in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, I have been at the forefront of the field for over two decades. In 2008, I founded and developed WellStar Health System's Palliative Care program, establishing the clinical protocols, ethical frameworks, and documentation standards at a time when only one other program (Emory) existed in the region. Having served as a hospice medical director before Face-to-Face (F2F) documentation was a regulatory requirement, I have experienced the full evolution of hospice oversight. This foundational experience provides me with a unique and historically grounded perspective on the National Standard of Care. I bring extensive clinical experience in leading high-stakes goals-of-care conversations and thoroughly documenting patient wishes. I have firsthand experience with the nuances of family disagreements and the challenges of evaluating the validity of Advance Directives. My forensic expertise lies in determining whether clinica...