In addition to consulting on specific cases, MEDPsych New York serves the casualty industry by offering free lectures on psychological injury and the strategic management of such claims. We have made over 350 presentations to insurance and law offices and associations; lawyers, claims representatives, supervisors and managers have consistently found these lectures to be interesting, informative and of great practical benefit. We have repeatedly been told that both the lectures and the educational materials which we distribute have been of great help in contending with expensive claims of psychological injury.

We would be very pleased to present a 1 to 3 hour seminar for your staff.

An educational program for insurance claims managers, executives, defense counsel and medical personnel

I.   Introduction

• The policy limits target
  The increase of minor injury cases that are now being presented as policy limits psychological injury claims.

• Organic psychological injury; head injury and toxic exposure
  The use of neuropsychological tests to prove an organic brain syndrome. Diagnostic failures on the part of the claimant's examiners. Alternate causes of poor test scores that are not related to the claimed injury. Improperly administered and outdated neuropsychological testing.

• Emotional psychological injury; depression, anxiety and other conditions
  Common profiles in psychological injury claims. 

• Base rates of clinical mental illness
  Preexisting mental illness. Discovery of the claimant's past psychological, social and medical history. 

• Clinical mental disorders vs. lifelong personality disorders
  The Borderline, Passive-aggressive, Narcissistic, Histrionic and other preexisting personality patterns found in the claimant population. 

• The litigation agenda vs. the wellness agenda
  Detection of the claims or litigation agenda. Conscious and unconscious manipulation of symptoms. Noncompliance with medical treatment.

II. Common Diagnostic Errors in the Claimant's File

• Claimant's failure to conduct adequate testing
  Psychological testing protocols. Overinterpretation and misinterpretation of test data.

• Claimant's failure to conduct an adequate differential diagnosis
  The recommended system for the diagnosis of mental disorders. 
  Why claimant's experts fail to use the recommended system.

• Failure to obtain past medical records
  Inadequate review of the claimant's medical history. Preexisting medical conditions that cause psychological symptoms. 

• Failure to evaluate medications
  Transient medication side-effects that are claimed as permanent effects of injury. Side-effects of medication that influence neuropsychological testing.

• The patient-therapist alliance and other sources of witness bias
  Sources of bias in the treating mental health specialist. 

• Iatrogenic illness in litigation
  Symptoms and behaviors that are the product of treatment errors. 

• The use of theories outside the mainstream of medicine
  Junk science in the Courtroom. The claimant's use of research studies.

III. The Recognition of Important Case Patterns

• The diffuse organic brain syndrome pattern
  The most costly source of future claims. 

• The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder pattern
  The history and defense of this commonly claimed condition.

• The depression pattern
  Familial and other non-proximate causes of depression. 

• Minor injuries that become major claims; Depressive pseudodementia
  The temporary, non-organic loss of acquired intelligence. 

• Recognition of malingering and the Ganser syndrome
  The Index of Suspicion in malingering. Intentional manipulation of symptoms to receive compensation.

• Recognition of the Factitious Disorder
  Intentional manipulation of symptoms to receive care and attention.

IV. Case Strategies for the Claims Examiner and Defense Counsel

• Discovery of the claimant's pre-injury psychosocial history
  Early indicators of antisocial and other psychopathological behavior.

• Discovery of the claimant's pre-injury medical history
  The investigation of prior medical conditions, disorders and level of functioning. Physical diseases and disorders that cause psychological symptoms. Discovery of the claimant's other life stressors. The importance of clinical notes and test data.