One of the most emotional, challenging, and difficult cases are birth injury cases. Dr. Steve Wood and Dr. Bill Kanasky, Jr. discuss some of the common themes they have seen during focus groups and mock trials for birth injury cases. Specifically, they share insights from jurors on these topics:
- jurors' perceptions and lack of understanding of the employment status of physicians as independent contractors vs. being employees of the hospital;
- jurors' awareness of the comparative time nurses spend with patients vs. doctors but who they hold ultimately responsible for care and why this can be a problem for the doctor;
- jurors' opinions on the communications between all involved parties (nurses, doctors, hospital)
- challenge of dealing with the potentially conflicting situation of sympathy of jurors toward the plaintiff, their positive perceptions of healthcare professionals, and how this impacts their process in awarding damages;
- jurors' perceptions of adherence to hospital rules and policies;
- effectiveness of day in the life videos;
- and more.