Life Expectancy Expert Witnesses: 5

Vera Dolan is an epidemiologist with over 30 years of experience in the life and health insurance industries. She is one of the leading mortality experts in the life insurance industry. She writes underwriting manuals and policy and procedure manuals for life and health insurance companies.

Vera has testified in both state and federal court, and has been retained in over 200 cases since 2006 for plaintiffs and defense on an equal basis. She is very credible testifying in deposition and on the stand.

* Life expectancies that are personalized and accurate to the standards of the life insurance and life settlement industries. Addresses the cases when life expectancies that are simply taken from a life table or estimated by a doctor, actuary or biostatistician are too long, too short, insufficient or not credible. Addresses the cases when a complete insight into the individual's medical conditions and/or personal history of high-risk behaviors is needed to assist the judge or jury in their decision. This information often decides the case, see article for details.

* Expert in bad faith/wrongful denial of life/health insurance claims.

* Expert in life/health insurance underwriting material misrepresentation.

* Expert in medical risk assessment and underwriting issues.

* Expert in life insurance underwriting policies and procedures.

* Expert in epidemiology. Previous cases include infectious diseases, occupational and environmental exposures, pesticides and tobacco.

* Approved life expectancy expert with the U.S. Department of Justice.

* Active consultant to the life insurance industry conducting cohort mortality studies, and writing underwriting and policy and procedure manuals.

* Over 100 articles published on mortality research and underwriting.

* Friendly, clear, concise, objective and quantitative.

* There is no charge for the initial phone consultation.

* There is no charge for travel time.

Dr. Steven Barna is a nationally recognized, double board-certified Pain Management Physician and Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP). Harvard trained and with over two decades of clinical experience in trauma, pain, and disability medicine, Dr. Barna brings a deep understanding of injury, chronic pain, and life care planning to his role as an expert witness.

Litigation Support - Dr. Barna's extensive medical expertise, combined with a balanced and objective approach to case evaluation, has made him a trusted resource for personal injury attorneys representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Over the past 4 years, he has provided expert testimony over 200 times

Dr. Barna is the Co-Editor of the Handbook of Medical Aspects of Disability and Rehabilitation for Life Care Planning (Routledge, 2024), a comprehensive reference widely used by life care planning professionals. He serves on the Editorial Board of Pain Physician, the official publication of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, and is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, the official journal of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association. He is also a former Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Life Care Planning. Dr. Barna has been recognized by Becker’s Orthopedic and Spine Review in their prestigious list of "150 Pain Management Physicians to Know." 

Prior to relocating to Florida, Dr. Barna spent nearly a decade on faculty at Harvard Medical School, where he held dual appointments as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine. During his tenure, he also served as Medical Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Pain Center. Following his time at Harvard, he spent nearly a decade as Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. In private practice, Dr. Barna was an Interventional Spine and Pain Physician and Partner at Florida Orthopaedic Institute, the largest multi-specialty orthopedic group in the state of Florida. 

Dr. Barna's credentials include:

• BS, University of Michigan
• MD, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine 
• Post-Doctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham in Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, and Pain Medicine 
• American Board of Anesthesiology, Board Certification in both Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine 
• International Commission on Health Care Certification, Certified Life Care Planner 
  

Garson M. Caruso, MD, MPH, PA, is a board certified Occupational Physician in private consulting practice with extensive clinical and administrative experience in emergency and occupational medicine, including:

• Case Review, Analysis, and Management
• Impairment Determination and Disability Rating
• Medical Direction
• Industrial Illness and Injury Care
• Medical Review Officer functions

Dr. Caruso has performed occupational health services and consulting for organizations including Lockheed Martin, Bechtel Aberdeen, PepsiCo, Dean Foods, The New York Transit Authority, and multiple Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. He has very broad and in-depth case management and file review experience involving complex disability and workers’ compensation claims. 

Dr. Caruso is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and International Academy of Independent Medical Evaluators (IAIME); a Certified Independent Medical Examiner (CIME; 2009-2014); and a Certified Medical Review Officer. He has also held numerous leadership roles in ACOEM, and both published and presented at national, state, and local conferences in his areas of expertise. Dr. Caruso's primary professional interests are worker disability prevention and management, with a particular focus on the psychosocial aspects of occupational medicine and workers compensation, and prevention or minimization of unnecessary work disability. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Caruso's expertise is available to counsel representing both plaintiff and defendant. His services include Independent Medical Evaluations, written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. Dr. Caruso is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Louisiana, and North Carolina. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Caruso's Consulting Profile.

EXPERTISE IN: 1. The pathobiology, clinico-pathologic correlation, and histopathologic diagnosis of: diseases of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, rectum, anus, liver, and pancreas. 2. Human neoplasms (cancer) and preneoplastic conditions. 3. Establishing standard of care, causation and cause of death. 

BACKGROUND: 

1. Anatomic Pathology Residency: Washington Univ-Barnes Hospital 1991-94.
2. Oncologic Pathology Fellowship: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 1994-95.
3. Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology Fellowship: Harvard-Brigham & Women's Hospital 1995-96.
4. Instructor at Harvard Medical School: 1996-1998.
5. Assistant Professor and Director of Gastrointestinal Pathology Division at UT-Health Science Center-Hermann Hospital, Houston Medical Center: 08/1998 - 12/2000.
6. Staff GI Pathologist and Quality Assurance Director at Caris/Miraca Life Sciences, Dallas TX: 01/2001 - 04/2012.  Dr. Torres was instrumental in creating a unique model of Gastrointestinal Pathology subspecialty-focused laboratory, during his tenure at Caris/Miraca Life Sciences.
7. Staff Pathologist, Anatomic Pathology Division of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, Long Island NY: 05/2012 - 05/2015.
8. Staff Pathologist, Anatomic Pathology Division of Alliance Health Sciences, Dallas TX: 06/2015 - 05/2020.
9. Sole Proprietor of Expert Pathology Consultation Services Laboratory since 01/2020, which provides diagnostic pathology services to hundreds of clinicians of different subspecialties.         

Arthur B. Kagan, FSA, EA, is one of the most qualified Actuaries and Pension Plan consultants in the country. In his over 40 year career, he has helped thousands of plan sponsors with the management of their company’s retirement plans, as well as hundreds of thousands of plan participants with their pension benefits.

Since 2020, Mr. Kagan has completed 50 expert witness cases, including personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, economic damages, family law, life estates, ERISA, public pension plan participant values, deferred compensation agreements, insurance, annuities, and general litigation on economic values.

Mr. Kagan served as the President and sole owner of a third party administration (TPA) and actuarial consulting firm for 26 years serving 650 plans;  Previously, he was president and partner of a TPA and actuarial firm serving 1400 plans. He is fully credentialed in actuarial valuations, plan funding, and present value calculations:

Mr. Kagan serves large, mid-size, and small plans covering all industries and all employer types.  He specialize in all aspects of:

Mr. Kagan has presented many seminars on recent developments in pension plan industry and creative plan design to the Desert Estate Planning Council, California CPA Society, AXA Advisors, and various financial advisory and CPA firms.