Opinion ID: 1583518
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Testimony of Dr. David W. Aiken, Jr.

Text: In their case-in-chief, defendants called their medical expert, Dr. David W. Aiken, Jr., an orthopedic surgeon tendered as an expert in the field of orthopedic surgery and treatment of spinal diseases, who reviewed Ms. Menard's medical records from her various treating physicians, particularly Dr. Domingue, Dr. Pearce, Dr. Montgomery, Dr. Cavanaugh, and Dr. Gammel, as well as reports from several objective tests performed on Ms. Menard, including an electromyogram/nerve conduction study (EMG/NCS), a lumbar MRI scan, a left shoulder MRI scan, a right knee MRI scan, and two cervical MRI scans. Notably, Dr. Aiken never physically examined Ms. Menard. [7] He reviewed Ms. Menard's medical records from her various treating physicians and testified regarding his impressions of their treatments and findings concerning her medical condition. According to Dr. Aiken, Dr. Cavanaugh, a chiropractor, treated Ms. Menard for initial complaints of neck pain, thoracic pain, right knee pain, and left arm pain from May 2001 to January 2002. Dr. Cavanaugh then referred Ms. Menard to Dr. Montgomery, an orthopedic surgeon, who first saw Ms. Menard on September 5, 2001, and noted complaints of left shoulder, right knee, and neck pain. His records indicated on her first visit he felt Ms. Menard had Cervical Strain, Left shoulder contusion, and Right knee contusion. Those same records noted overall, [he] didn't see any serious abnormalities. No complaints of low back pain were noted in Dr. Montgomery's records, and Dr. Aiken's review revealed August 30, 2002, was the last date Dr. Montgomery mentioned any of the complaints from the accident. [8] Dr. Montgomery then referred Ms. Menard to Dr. Domingue, a neurologist, who saw Ms. Menard one time on August 22, 2002, and conducted an EMG/NCS of her back and right lower extremity. According to Dr. Aiken, Dr. Domingue reported the study as normal. Dr. Aiken also testified the radiologist reported Ms. Menard's lumbar MRI performed on June 17, 2003, which indicated the slight convexity of the L5, S1 level referenced by Dr. Gammel, as being within physiologic limits. [9] He also testified the report of Ms. Menard's cervical MRI performed on May 19, 2004, which showed mild bulging at C4-5 and C5-6 as referenced by Dr. Gammel, was also normal or within physiologic limits as one would normally expect to see bulging disks in someone of Ms. Menard's age. His review of Ms. Menard's medical records yielded the following four opinions presented to the jury as Defendants' Exhibit 2: (1) Dr. Montgomery fully evaluated the patient on six occasions from October 3, 2001 to August 30, 2002 and never found anything wrong with the patient except for soft tissue injuries (contusions, sprains, and strains) to the neck, left shoulder and right knee. (2) All objective tests performed on the patient including an Electromyogram/Nerve Conduction Study, a lumbar MRI scan, a left shoulder MRI scan, a right knee MRI scan, and two cervical MRI scans were all normal. (3) Soft tissue injuries improve with the passage of time, but this patient claims no improvement with the passage of five years, page 47 Ms. Menard's second deposition. This does not seem believable without some objective abnormality appearing on MRI scanning. (4) Excessive steroid usage can cause many bad effects in a patient including thinning of the skin, easy bruising, weight gain, puffiness of the face, elevation of blood pressure, cataract formation, glaucoma, peptic ulcers, esophagitis, pancreatitis, avascular necrosis of the hips, and thinning of the bones. I think Dr. Gammel's injections have passed the number where they are safe and should be discontinued. [He noted Ms. Menard had had 18 steroid injections.] He offered no opinion concerning past or future medical expenses.