Biography
Dr François SESTIER graduated in Nancy, France, 1967, where he obtained certification in cardiology, pneumology, occupational medicine and aeronautical medicine. He obtained a Quebec certification in cardiology in 1975, his FRCPc in Cardiology and a PhD in Experimental Medicine (McGil , 1977). He is staff cardiologist at CHUM, Montreal; he is medical director of Quebec Blue Cross since 1985 and of OptimumRe since 2002. He obtained his American Board of Insurance Medicine (1995), and is certified by the American Board in Independent Médical evaluation (ABIME, 2011). Dr Sestier is past president of CLIMOA (1996-1997), past-president of CSME (2011-2013) and past-president of AIDC (2010-2012). He is Professor of Medicine at University of Montreal, and since 1999 director of the bilingual program of Insurance and Medicolegal Expertise at University of Montreal; he has a certificate in Insurance Medicine and medico-legal expertise from the University of Montreal program. Moreover since recent scandals in UK, and Canada, Dr Sestier is an advocate for certification, maintenance of competence and recertification for al medical experts and al insurance medical officers. His fields of interest are cardiology consultation, teaching medico-legal expertise and insurance medicine; Dr Sestier is a medico-legal expert in several domains: cardiology at large, for both liability and disability cases, insurance medicolegal issues and life expectancy calculation in al areas of medicine.
International Code of Medicolegal Ethics
Introduction
This proposed International Code of Medicolegal Ethics “the Code” is meant to supplement the World Medical Association International Code of Medical Ethics in areas of medicolegal practice. When accepting a medicolegal mandate, the health care professional assumes a different role from that of a treating health care professional. Based on best practices and international case law, the Code provides guidance to physicians and other regulated healthcare professionals who perform third party medicolegal evaluations and act as expert witnesses. Special attention was given to the relationship between health care providers and society (community or nation) in the context of limited public and private funding resource allocation, public health, law and common good. (read more)
Testimonial from The Single Joint Expert
On 26 April 1999, new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) was introduced in the UK in response to Lord Woolf’s report on the civil justice system. Lord Woolf identified excessive cost, delay and complexity as the key problems facing the civil justice system. The role and use of expert evidence was identified as not only one of the two major causes of these problems, but was identified as the “subject that caused the most concern”. This was not surprising given that parties to litigation were all too often using too many experts, many of whom being not only superfluous to requirement but irrelevant to the issues in dispute. These problems were further compounded by the fact that the independence of expert witnesses was often questionable given that they were appointed by, instructed by and paid by one party. (Read More)