scholarly journals American General Jurisdiction Trial Courts: New Visions, New Guidelines

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Trial Courts ◽  
New Guidelines

Improving the Reliability of Expert Testimony in Suicide Litigation

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. White
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Federal Court ◽  
Suicide Assessment ◽  
Trial Courts ◽  
Completed Suicide ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Federal Standard ◽  
Perceived Relevance ◽  
New Guidelines

The topic of suicide assessment is of interest to mental health practitioners because it is one where they often feel very susceptible to criticism in the event of a completed suicide. In the absence of defined academic or professional standards, practitioners rightfully feel vulnerable to the potential consequences of a legally challenged assessment. The lack of recognized standards is also problematic for trial courts because it forces them to rely heavily on the testimony of expert witnesses. In recent years the standard for admissibility of proposed expert testimony in federal court has changed significantly, shifting from emphasizing experts' credentials as the primary bases for their testimony to a more scientific analysis of the methods and practices they used in reaching their conclusions. The federal standard gives far more latitude to trial judges to accept or reject an expert's proposed testimony based on its perceived relevance and reliability. These new standards permanently change the criteria attorneys will use in selecting experts to provide mental health testimony. Now attorneys must find experts who not only are qualified but whose testimony can withstand rigorous examination to determine its scientific merit. This paper acquaints potential mental health experts with these new guidelines and presents criteria for developing more objective guidelines to evaluate the adequacy of any suicide assessment while ensuring the scientific reliability of testimony.

New Guidelines Urge PAD Screening

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
ALICIA AULT
Keyword(s):  
New Guidelines

New Guidelines Issued to Aid Management of CAP

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
BARBARA J. RUTLEDGE
Keyword(s):  
New Guidelines

Vitamin D Deficiency/Insufficiency and Challenges in Developing Global Vitamin D Fortification and Supplementation Policy in Adults

2012 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Ben-Shoshan
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Vitamin D Deficiency ◽  
Search Strategy ◽  
Epidemiologic Studies ◽  
Vitamin D Supplementation ◽  
Vitamin D Status ◽  
Societal Burden ◽  
Time Period ◽  
New Guidelines ◽  
In Cis

This review summarizes studies discussing vitamin D status in adults and reveals that vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is highly prevalent in adults and that current fortification and supplementation policies are inadequate. Background and aims: Studies suggest a crucial role for adequate vitamin D status in various health conditions including bone metabolism, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and allergies. However, relatively little is known about poor vitamin D status and unmet needs in adults. This report aims to highlight the contribution of epidemiologic studies (through the identification of health effects and societal burden) to the development of vitamin D fortification and supplementation policies and reveal unmet global challenges in adults. Methods: In order to assess worldwide vitamin D status in adults, the search strategy combined the medical literature database MEDLINE (using PubMed) for the time period between January 1, 1980 and February 28, 2011, using the key words “vitamin D” “deficiency” and “insufficiency”, and included articles in which access to full text was possible and in which healthy adults were assessed according to one of four commonly used vitamin D threshold classifications. Results: This report reveals that vitamin D deficiency occurs in 4.10 % [95 % CI (confidence interval), 3.93 %, 4.27 %] to 55.05 % (54.07 %, 56.03 %) of adults, while insufficiency occurs in 26.07 % (24.82 %, 27.33 %) to 78.50 % (77.85 %, 79.16 %), depending on the classification used. However, lack of overlap in CIs and high value of I2 statistics indicate considerable heterogeneity between studies. Further, certain populations (i. e. dark-skinned individuals, immigrants, and pregnant women) may be at higher risk for poor vitamin D status. Conclusion: Current policies for vitamin D supplementation and fortification are inadequate and new guidelines are required to improve vitamin D status in adults.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document