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ACR ethics committee takes action again
The American College of Radiology issued an 80-day suspension to a radiologist in September for testifying inaccurately as an expert witness in a malpractice case. This was the fifth expert witness complaint to be resolved since the ACR began pursuing such grievances. The latest involved Dr. Harwood B. Hance of Redondo Beach, CA, who testified that actions by Dr. Jeffrey Zuckerman, a radiologist based in Fairbanks, AK, fell below the standard of care in treating a patient who eventually developed oliguric renal failure. The case was dismissed before it reached court, but Zuckerman complained to the ACR that Hance's testimony was inaccurate.
The American College of Radiology issued an 80-day suspension to a radiologist in September for testifying inaccurately as an expert witness in a malpractice case. This was the fifth expert witness complaint to be resolved since the ACR began pursuing such grievances. The latest involved Dr. Harwood B. Hance of Redondo Beach, CA, who testified that actions by Dr. Jeffrey Zuckerman, a radiologist based in Fairbanks, AK, fell below the standard of care in treating a patient who eventually developed oliguric renal failure. The case was dismissed before it reached court, but Zuckerman complained to the ACR that Hance's testimony was inaccurate.
The ACR has received 18 complaints of alleged ethics violations, 13 of which involved suspect expert testimony. The first hearing, in October 2003, concluded that the testimony in question was acceptable. In May 2004, the college censured a radiologist who testified in a mammography liability trial. In July, it expelled a neuroradiologist who had had two separate complaints lodged against him.