Russell, Anthony: “Money” Cross of a medical expert
Here’s a cross-examination by Roanoke, Va., attorney Tony Russell where he nicely stretches the point about the doctor making a lot of money from testifying. On direct examination, the examiner had brought out the doctor’s ‘net’ from testifying, which didn’t include money paid to family members who worked for the doctor’s testimonial corporation.
Q Doctor Andrews, we know each other, is that correct?
A We have met before.
Q I want to first start off with the financial information that Mr. Peake concentrated on in this case. The medical legal work that you were discussing with Mr. Peake, that does not involve people who you actually treat, correct?
A No, these are not my patients. These are people whose records that I’m asked to read that I am not treating.
Q And the medical legal work that you do as well as the record review that you discussed with Mr. Peake, you have set up a corporation to handle that, correct?
A I have.
Q And that corporation is William C. Andrews, Jr., MD, PC, correct?
A That is correct.
Q And that is the corporation that receives all of the proceeds from your medical legal expert work and your records review and all your non-treating doctor stuff, correct?
A Correct.
Q And you said, if I recall, Mr. Peake asked what you made in 2012, last year, from doing expert witness and record reviews and you said it was $340,000, correct?
A That’s correct.
Q Now, that is just profit, correct?
A That is correct.
Q Because your corporation made much more than that in 2012 for your legal expert witness work as well as your record reviews, is that correct?
A That is correct.
Q Tell us, if you would, how much money did your corporation make in 2012 for this stuff?
A I didn’t look that up last night. I think it made around $500,000.
Q So a half million dollars?
A Correct.
Q Now, in 2011 when you told Mr. Peake that you made $288,000. That, again, was profit from these things, correct?
A Correct.
Q Again, that does not include all the money that your corporation made for what you did, correct?
A Right.
Q Now, Doctor Andrews, tell us how much did your corporation make in 2011 for the work that you do? Again, this is not treating work. This is not your clinical practice. Just the legal expert work and the medical reviews.
A And, again, I did not look it up but I think you can do the math and say probably somewhere around $425,000.
Q And then in 2010, again, when Mr. Peake asked you what you made and you said a quarter of a million dollars, that again was just profit, correct?
A That is correct.
Q Tell us how much your corporation made in 2010 from the proceeds of the work that you do like here today?
A Again, an estimate would be around $400,000.
Q And then you were predicting this year up through this time you have made around $300,000. Again, that would be profit?
A That’s my prediction for the year.
Q And that would be profit, correct?
A That is correct.
Q So how much are you expecting that your corporation will make this year from your proceeds of doing work like this?
A And an estimate would be about $450,000.
Q And then in 2009 –did you look at your 2009 tax returns for you and your corporation?
A I do not.
Q Do you recall in 2009 making a profit of a quarter of a million dollars?
A I really don’t. I haven’t looked back at that.
Q Do you have any reason to disagree with that?
A No.
Q And in 2009, would you agree that your corporation made around $425,000 for your efforts like this?
A I can’t argue it since I haven’t looked back, I have no idea.
Q Do you have any reason to disagree with that figure?
A No, but as I said, I just haven’t looked at it.
Q So in the last five years, including this year, your corporation has made approximately $2 million dollars for this type of work that you do, correct?
A That’s correct.
Q And you have made over a million dollars doing this type of work?
A Correct.
Q And when we talk about your corporation, your wife works as part of that corporation, is that correct?
A She does not.
Q She did at one point though? She acted as office manager?
A She has never been paid a cent by the company. She does help me, but she does help me.
Q Did you have one or more of your children work for that company before?
A I have.
Q Do you still have one or more children working for that company?
A They do.
Q Do they get paid from the money that goes to your corporation?
A They do.
Q And you’re a hundred percent shareholder in that corporation?
A I am.
Q Now, you had mentioned that Mr. Peake was asking you about in medical malpractice cases, the break down of your work and I just want to be clear here. Have you ever testified in a deposition anywhere in the country that a doctor deviated from the standard of care?
A No.
Q You have testified several times that doctors complied with the standard of care?
A I have.
Q Have you ever testified at trial that any doctor anywhere in the United States deviated from the standard of care?
A No, I have not.
Q You have testified at trial several times that doctors, like here today, did not do anything wrong, correct?
A That’s correct.
Q And one of the things we mentioned is that you reviewed a case three years ago for a lawyer and gave a favorable opinion, is that correct?
A Yes.
Q Now, that lawyer was a lawyer from Denver, Colorado, is that correct?
A That is correct.
Q And he is a personal friend of yours, correct?
A He is.
Q And then you mentioned that you reviewed a case for my partner, Trey Smith, isn’t it true that in that case you were actually the treating physician of that case. This wasn’t an expert witness role?
A That is correct.