Scientific reasoning in legal expert opinions for the Federal Employers' Liability Insurance

Rendering an expert opinion on the causal relationship between an accident and late consequences for the victim's health is one of the most responsible tasks undertaken by physicians engaged in treatments approved by the employers' liability insurance associations. Practically any problem can be solved, providing two questions are dealt with in order: (1) Was the documented event sufficient (in terms of time, force, and direction) to cause the alleged physical harm? and (2) Was the event (in a legal sense) of such a relevance that its importance for the health deficit exceeds a specific threshold? Physicians need a good knowledge of the current medical literature to be able to address these questions properly. In the case of whiplash-associated disorders, recent clinical and epidemiological data rarely allow confirmation of adequacy that the accident was sufficiently serious to cause neck pain, and almost never, to justify any assumption of causality.