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Nationwide Expert/10,000 Cases

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

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CREDENTIALS AND CHICAGO STORY I have provided expert witness services in 15 states, including recent matters in Missouri, Tennessee, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi. Many referrals have come from attorneys who had previously engaged me. I am board certified in ophthalmology with dual fellowships in oculoplastics and cataract surgery. My medical school and post-graduate training were at the University of Chicago, Wills Eye Institute, McGill University, and University of Montreal. I held faculty positions at the Illinois Eye Institute, Loyola University, and the University of Chicago. During my academic career, I authored more than 70 papers, textbook chapters, and lectures, and presented at academic and industry meetings. Topics I have authored include glaucoma, cataracts, uveitis, oculoplastics, dermatology, macular degeneration, regulatory issues. Upon arriving back in Chicago from Montreal, I set up an office to do oculoplastics and joined the Illinois Eye Institute as the second member of its ophthalmology faculty. I led its cataract program, which included both surgery and teaching co-managment to downstate optometrists. The position entailed diagnosing and treating many patients in the early stages of glaucoma. Some patient had imaging studies showing early optic nerve damage and normal visual field testing. I called this pre-perimetric glaucoma. Combining OCT imaging and visual field testing, along with other metrics, I developed a methodology for early glaucoma detection, presenting it at the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Another area of interest was pterygium surgery. There was a large Hispanic community in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods with a high incidence of pterygium, many of whom were Spanish-speaking immigrants. After receiving a license from the State of Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety to use a Strontium-90 applicator, my Loop practice gradually became a regional referral source for a combined surgical and radiation treatment approach. I performed a high volume of pterygium procedures for many years, and visiting surgeons occasionally observed procedures and discussed treatment methods. METHODOLOGY A strength of my practice is case analysis. While all cases start with a disappointing outcome, plaintiff's counsel will approach me earlier in the process while standard of care and causation issues are still being analyzed. An introductory conversation is helpful in understanding what transpired. There may be one or more competing causation theories. Once I receive the records, a timeline or summary is developed and various explanations for the clinical outcome are identified. They are then stress-tested against the available evidence during the review process--which will examine office visits, operative reports, imaging studies, nursing documentation, patient narratives, and timelines. What is not documented can be as important as what is explicitly stated. This approach scrutinizes theories for inclusion or exclusion. I keep in mind that care contemplated with the benefit of hindsight is not the benchmark: I am looking for what a reasonably competent practitioner would have done under similar circumstances. CONTACT and EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION My mobile phone number is 773-899-1032, please leave a voice message, or send a text. I may be contacted through SEAK or at lstone@stoneeyecenter.com. Additional discussion of standard-of-care issues and terminology can be found at ophthalmologyexpert.net, including overviews of multiple ophthalmic subspecialties in the "Areas of Expertise" section.