The Forensic Evaluation of Traumatic Brain Injury: A Handbook for Clinicians and Attorneys PDF

Preface

Over the past two decades, I have seen a drastic increase in the number of traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases that have ended up in the courtroom. As a clinical neuropsychologist who conducts evaluations of persons with suspected brain injuries, I have all too often found myself sitting in a courtroom trying to defend my professional opinion and decisions. I have discovered, along with my colleagues, that to be comfortable or at least confident in such an adversarial system, it is important to be knowledgeable in the entire assessment of TBI and the forensic process involved.

Although there have been a myriad of publications on TBI and forensic neuropsychology, I could not find a text available to provide a medical and legal professional with a concise overview of the forensic assessment process and the issues in TBI. Finding such a need, I felt compelled to draw together a group of experts in the medical, neuropsychological, and legal professions to develop such a text. However, the text was not designed as a comprehensive work on forensic neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, or even TBI, as there are many excellent authoritative texts available on these subjects. Instead, my colleagues and I have designed this test to provide both the clinician involved in forensic examinations and the legal professional involved in personal injury litigation or legal proceedings with a general overview of the issues and assessment process in TBI cases. Accordingly, the text begins with an overview of the key issues involved in the forensic assessment of TBI, including definitions and select medical diagnostic terminology that should be of particular interest to the forensic examiner and legal professional. Subsequent chapters provide an overview of the neurologic, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, and psychological forensic assessment process specific to brain injury cases.

As part of the revisions to this text, additional chapters have been added, including a chapter on the neuropsychiatric evaluation performed by a clinical or forensic neuropsychiatrist. Although there is a clear overlap between the forensic neurological and neuropsychiatric assessments, there are distinct differences in focus and areas addressed between these two medical specialties and evaluations. Additional chapters expand on the topic of forensic testimony, and on the forensic examiner as an expert witness.

Additionally, in the chapters on the forensic examiner as expert witness and expert witness testimony, such issues as qualifications and credibility of the forensic expert and admissibility of expert testimony in TBI cases are reviewed. These chapters will, of course, be of particular interest and concern to the forensic examiner in light of new court rulings and possible modifications to the admissibility of a given forensic examiner's testimony.

Finally, a chapter on neuropsychological rehabilitation issues after traumatic brain injury has been added. Although this chapter does not necessarily address the traumatic brain injury evaluation, it provides critical information for the forensic examiners and other professionals within the forensic setting with regard to rehabilitation treatments or services that may be beneficial to or required for persons who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. Such information may be critical in TBI litigation as the type of treatment (possibly ongoing) and duration thereof are often essential information within such cases.

The contributors of this book have also attempted to provide clinically useful and practical tables and reference pages that can be used by forensic examiners and legal professionals involved in TBI cases. It is my hope as editor that this text will be a useful resource and overview for clinicians and legal professionals alike.