Claims Of Lawsuit Bias By Medics -- MesoLink.org -- 08-04-04

A Medical publication, Academic Radiology, has reported that some physicians and radiologists that are responsible for giving information on x-ray findings in mesothelioma lawsuits could actually be biased.

The report claimed that the x-ray finding may often be exaggerated and that an independent interpretation of the same x-ray could be far less understated.

A test was carried out through the use of x-rays that had been used in court cases for mesothelioma victims, and out of the 492 samples used it was reported that over 95% of them had been reported as abnormal by medics dealing with the victim of the court case. However, independent assessors reported that less than 5% of the samples showed any abnormality.

The study was carried out by a team from the John Hopkins School of Medicine, which is in Baltimore.

A spokesperson for the article made the following comment:

"The magnitude of the differences between the interpretations by initial readers and the six consultants is too great to be attributed to interobserver error. There is no support in the world literature on x-ray studies of workers exposed to asbestos and other mineral dusts for the high level of positive findings recorded by the initial readers in this report."

These finding have already started to cause concern with regards the effectiveness of the testimonies given in connection to the state of the victims’ health and the degree of damage portrayed by medics that have been accused of bias.