Excelas is widely respected for its expertise in managing and evaluating medical records related to long-term care litigation.  Our clients value the ability to incorporate our chronologies and analyses into their overall case assessment and defense strategy.  It may not be as widely known, however, that Excelas’ expertise extends to other types of cases, product liability and toxic exposure for example.  Our team provides diverse services to assist in reviewing complex medical issues and preparing analyses to assist counsel in refuting varied allegations.

Our staff augments the work done by claims managers and counsel in toxic tort and product liability litigation through:

• Document Review: Excelas’ capabilities go beyond our core competency of medical record review and analysis. Our medical-legal staff is experienced in assessing all relevant documents, including, but not limited to, billing records, employment records, military records, corporate records, policies and procedures, expert reports, complaints, and depositions.  Review of all types of records for completeness, additional providers/sources, and potential missing information early in the process allows for ample time to request additional records.

• Medical Analyses: Allegations in toxic tort or product liability cases are wide-ranging, and understanding how to decipher and interpret the medical records is critical.  The Excelas medical team has years of experience, both in the clinical setting and in retrospective review of millions of pages of medical records, to analyze the plaintiff’s medical information efficiently and effectively in matters relating to:
  • Cancer allegations, which are the focus in large lawsuits including Camp Lejeune, talcum powder, AFFF Firefighting Foam, CPAP recall, hair relaxer and asbestos,
  • Neurologic allegations, for example Parkinson’s in the Paraquat lawsuit,
  • Injury allegations from product defects such as product fracture and migration in the body in the Bard PowerPort lawsuit, Paragard IUD lawsuit, and hernia mesh lawsuits, or due to labeling issues, as in the baby formula cases,
  • Adverse event allegations related to pharmaceuticals including Tepezza (thyroid eye disease medication alleged to cause permanent hearing loss and tinnitus), Suboxone (used to treat opioid addiction and alleged to cause tooth decay and other dental injuries), and Ozempic (used to treat diabetes and aid in weight loss is alleged to cause gastrointestinal issues, gallbladder disease and gallstones).

Integrating relevant dates and issues in all plaintiff records, both medical and non-medical, allows for a complete picture of issues including exposure, product usage, potential/alternative causation, injury occurrence and the extent of injury, identification of preexisting conditions and symptoms, assessment of risk factors, examination of family, social and occupational history, compliance, lost wages, and other potential financial damages.

• Deadline Support “On Demand”: In situations where deadlines are looming and discovery is expedited, Excelas can quickly mobilize to review records and provide a comprehensive analysis. This just-in-time analysis can be customized to meet the immediate needs of claims managers and counsel.  Services to support quick turnaround include organization, identification of providers of care/potential witnesses, risk assessment, case abstract, case summary, and medical chronology.  Utilizing our team to focus on the medical aspects allows counsel to focus on other case management and legal strategy issues.

Efficient deployment of claims and litigation resources is critical in the current legal environment.  Whether faced with a medically complex case, large volumes of records, and/or a short deadline, the ability to focus the defense team on decision-making and strategy development is imperative.  Knowing that the medical analysis of the case at hand, whether in long-term care, medical malpractice, product liability or toxic tort, is being managed by experienced medical-legal professionals can bring peace of mind that resources are being managed in the most cost-effective manner.