OEHS 6820 - Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety-Legal Perspectives

Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Physicians are frequently required to render opinions concerning whether an adverse health effect is work-related or proximately caused by environmental exposure to chemical or physical factor in medicolegal proceedings. It is incumbent upon the clinician ensure that any opinion reflects the scrupulous analysis of high-grade scientific evidence, including clinical evidence; epidemiological evidence; chemical and physical properties of exposure; relevant regulations, standards, and technical guidelines for human exposure to chemical and physical factors; quantitative measurements of exposure; reliability of exposure estimates; consideration of alternative sole or contributory causes; and validity of exposure estimates and causal opinions of others to derive evidence-based conclusions in medicolegal proceedings.