MML Articles

[2017] PrecedentAULA 5; (2017) 138 Precedent 14 The management of the injured worker in a compensation scheme can pose unique challenges to the treatment provider. Unlike the traditionally exclusive doctor-patient relationship, working in a compensation setting includes the addition of a third party (the insurer) into the clinical mix. As a consequence, the traditional doctor-patient dyad is challenged, with the potential to impact upon important clinical domains including: r

In the highly scrutinised world of medicolegal assessments, the language used by orthopaedic surgeons matters profoundly. Our reports guide legal outcomes, compensation decisions, and appropriate care pathways. At times I read subjective or potentially stigmatising language in orthopaedic reports, for example: "His entire presentation is related to a psychiatric phenomenon far more likely to be a conversion disorder rather than any physical explanation." "There is likely to b

Most orthopaedic surgeons are trained to treat patients. IME work requires a different mindset. What I wish I could tell new IMEs I practise orthopaedics in two different settings: as a treating surgeon and as an Independent Medical Examiner. The training is the same. The mindset is different. As a treating orthopaedic surgeon Your starting point is simple: How do I help this person get better? You take a history, perform an examination, and order investigations. In orthopaed

AI is already in the room. The question is whether it's being used well or not. In this episode of Medico Legal Mastery, host Jess Marshall sat down with Tom Davies - solicitor, medico legal technologist - to examine what artificial intelligence actually looks like in practice, why the trust problem is everything, and what the courts are trying to figure out before the technology runs ahead of them. Why AI is becoming essential in medico-legal practice Here's a thing the indu

Children aren't small adults. They process pain differently, recall events differently, communicate differently - and they will see right through you if you're not being straight with them. In this episode of Medico Legal Mastery, host Jess Marshall sat down with Dr Anna Manolopoulos, a Melbourne-based orthopaedic surgeon with a subspecialty in paediatric orthopaedics, to pull apart exactly what makes assessing a child so technically and ethically demanding - and what experie

In medico-legal practice, the clean case is the exception. Single incident, no prior history, clear causation. The rule is complexity: claimants who arrive with years of pre-existing pathology, multiple active claims, and a new incident layered on top of all of it. Establishing a baseline in complex medico-legal assessments Dr Boekel's first move in a multi-cause assessment is to establish a baseline: what the claimant was like before the incident, how much pain medication th

Dr. Daniel Robin is a Melbourne-based orthopaedic surgeon and sub-specialist in complex hip and knee surgery. On the third episode of Medico-Legal Mastery, Dr. Robin addresses the dimension of IME practice that separates competent examiners from truly defensible ones: the clinical discipline to observe without treating, document without judging, and report facts without crossing into opinion. The mindset shift A central challenge for surgeons entering the IME space is the fun

Dr. Stephen Doig is an orthopaedic surgeon with extensive medico-legal experience. On the second episode of Medico-Legal Mastery, Dr. Doig addresses a dimension of medico-legal work often overlooked: the strategic use of language, the establishment of trust and neutrality, and how word choice can fundamentally alter patient outcomes. Establishing independence and building patient trust A central tenet of Dr. Doig's approach is the demonstration of independence from the moment

Dr. Michael Dooley is an orthopaedic surgeon with three decades of medico-legal experience, predominantly practicing at St Vincent's Public Hospital in Melbourne. His extensive background includes 15 years as the orthopaedic surgeon to Port Phillip Prison, providing him with unique insights into patient management across diverse and challenging contexts. On the first episode of Medico-Legal Mastery, Dr. Dooley addresses fundamental issues in medico-legal assessment: the hiera